Hills, Rocks, and Boulders of India-Homa

The visitors Center

It has been several months... almost years since I touched a rock with an intention of climbing it. There are no rocks or hills in Dallas area, which is in the heart of the Panhandle Plains of Texas. Last Sunday I was lucky enough to visit a place known as Indiahoma in the neighboring state of Oklahoma. This small town is home to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.

The sprawl of Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, India-homa

As we drove on flat-as-a-Dosa landscape I was joking that Indiahoma and Oklahoma get their names because one of the ancient Hindu saints... Rishi Kapila traveled from Kapilaranya (California) with his cattle (Akalu in our language) and performed some sacred rituals to rid the land off its curses. Hence the state came to be known as Akalu-Homa and later became anglicized to Oklahoma. The place India-Home is the exact location of the sacred rituals and hence even today it is associated with India and Homa.

Anyway Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is quite different from Texas and I simply loved the rolling rocky hills that mark the area. This is a 59,020 acre refuge and is protected habitat for several native species that have managed to survive the Whiteman's Greed. When the first Europeans landed in this country, their sole intention was to plunder and destroy whatever they found here so they can become rich. It was only after several decades that they started settling down and forming this United States of America. Some of the commonly found species in this wildlife refuge include the American bison, (We saw many of these gentle giants) Rocky Mountain elk, white-tailed deer, Texas longhorn cattle (what are they doing in Oklahoma??? Oh! these were the ones brought in by Rishi Kapila to perform the Yanga, and they are protected because, here they are sacred). Apart from these notable creatures there are over 50 mammal, 240 bird, 64 reptile and amphibian, 36 fish, and 806 plant species thrive here.

Rocky Terrain

I will talk about the short hike we took in the refuge in my next post. For now I have to get ready and get to work... enjoy the pictures.

Poetic Picture

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. I agree... but the blabbermouth I am... I was compelled to add a few words to the picture... wonder how it looks and whether it reads alright.

Hinduism Summit at Chicago

The Forum for Hindu Awakening is conducting a Hinduism Summit from April 24, 2010 at Chicago, IL. The aim of this summit according to the organizers is to "promote an understanding about the unique science behind Hinduism concepts and practices, and provide practical guidance on living Hinduism...."

One of the good results of living in a foreign country for Hinduism is that Hindus here are willing to come to a common platform forgetting their caste, region, heritage, guru, philosophy, etc and discuss the religion in general.

Unfortunately in India though a Hindu-majority nation, this kind of summits are rarely held and even when they are conducted they tend to be dismissed as some "RSS-type event" and touted as a "Hindu Fundamentalist event" by the mainstream left-inspired media. Caste based and narrow group based events are encouraged across the country.

Luckily in the US a new Hindu Awakening is possible and hopefully all Hindus will come together as one strong group rather than weak fragments. I will not be attending this event in person but will get updates on the web and keep myself informed.

Study online to Earn Prestigious Master of Arts in Teaching Degree

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of USC. All opinions are 100% mine.

Higher Education is a sure shot gateway to better career, greater earnings, enhanced respect, broadening of intellectual horizons and of course a better quality of life. Unfortunately all of us have not been lucky enough to go to graduate school when we were young. Some of us had to start working early and had neither the means nor the time to go to the university. There are many among my friends who would like to go back to school, earn a masters degree, but are unable to do so due to clashing schedules.

It is also a reality that in today's ever changing jobs marketplace one needs to be constantly upgrading skills, acquiring new knowledge to have the competitive advantage. This is specially so for teachers and those that are contemplating becoming teachers. I recently came across a fantastic online masters degree program for current and aspiring teachers/ educators, from the USC Rossier School of Education.

The program aptly titled Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT@USC) is completely online and offered by none other than the University of Southern California, considered an elite research institution. As I read more about the program information I am totally impressed by its interactivity and fast pace that enables students to complete a Masters degree in just 12 months. The two features of the program that attracted me the most was the phenomenal tuition reimbursement program of the university and the rare chance to become member of the USC Trojan Family.

Though the program is completely online there are field work opportunities at the student's local area. The university will work with you to schedule field activities for you.

These advantages seem too good to be true or at least that is what I felt when I first read through them. On further research I came to know that USC is an internationally recognized school with over 100 years of history of educating teachers. USC was ranked #22 in the US and #9 among private universities by the US News and World Report. With such high credentials I would be glad to graduate from the USC.

Important Indian Events in Dallas

Dallas area has a fairly large Indian community... something or the other seems to be happening always. I try to keep abreast of different activities that take place in the area, if I don't attend it personally I end up reading about it on someone's blog or looking it up on a forwarded email and sometimes even on desi event sites. Couple of days ago I received this information about the Hasya Kavi Sammelan 2010. This is the third year in a row and according to the organizers the show has been sold out the past two years. I am quite sure this event will be enjoyed by Hindi speakers and listeners, I have viewed some programs on TV when I was in India. The Kavi Sammelan's are usually quite hilarious and also provide important lessons to society.

Details of the Dallas event are as follows:
Date: Friday, April 9th , 2010

Venue: DFW Hindu Temple, Irving

Ticket price: $25 at the gate but only $20 if purchased in advance. VIP tickets are $50

Presenter: International Hindi Association

And like most Indian events, first food and then show. The Kavi Sammelan is also serving Complimentary dinner for ticket holders and dinner is served from 5:45PM to 7:45 PM.

Show begins promptly at 8PM.

Hanuman Jayanthi Celebrations in Dallas

Since yesterday the Datta Yoga Center has been celebrating the Hanuman Jayanthi festival. The actual birthday of the Simian God is tomorrow March 29, 2010. Today was an attempt to chant the Hanuman Chalisa 1008 times. I could not be part of the chanting because of work schedules but did chant the Hanuman Chalisa once today.

I would say the Hanuman Temple at Frisco, TX in DFW Metro area is one of the grand Hindu shrines here. This is also perhaps the most dynamic shrine, with numerous activities to educate American-born children about Hindu culture, traditions, languages, scriptures, Sanskrit holy chants etc. Whenever I visit the temple I feel as if I am back in India for the few minutes I am in there.

The organizers did a great job in putting together this event.

Russian Tightrope Village

I watched a video about the universal pastime of a Russian Village on Bing. The video shows how a poor village has transformed itself into a prosperous model even though they don't have any land to cultivate or grow food crops. The village set amidst mountains has a secret formula. Its residents are tight rope walkers and that is how they make their living. At one time they were considered the best team in the whole of Soviet Union.

What interested me in the video particularly was the fact that this village though set in one of the developed nations and former super powers of the world, the infrastructure seems to be similar to villages in India. People don't seem to be as rich as one would expect. Probably this is because of socialistic economy. There are remote rural locales in India where people use frozen rivers (Zanskar, Lakakh), Burma Bridges, tight rope, etc, but these were are tools for survival. Unfortunately the people in Indian villages never thought of marketing their skills else I am pretty sure those villages could have developed too.... and once developed I am sure the skills that brought them the prosperity would have been forgotten.

Technology that converts watewater sludge into soil-enrichment products!!!

The biggest threat that is posing a great challenge to earth and the humanity inhabiting the planet is hazardous wastes that are produced as a result of human activities. With the evolution of human race our lifestyle, nutrition, and professional needs have spurred us to exploit earth's natural resources more and more. Over the years this exploitation has led to the depletion of vital resources such as fresh water, fertile soil, minerals, oxygen, etc.

Of course when humans can destroy, there are those who think of rejuvenation also. There are scientists and organizations in various parts of the world that are working towards researching and developing technologies that help minimize waste, convert hazardous wastes into productive material. One such entity is http://www.nviro.com, the home page of N-Vitro International Corporation. This research organization is involved in developing and licensing technologies that convert waste water sludge and other bio-organic wastes into bio-mineral agricultural and soil-enrichment products.



This technology is useful for municipalities and private companies. The processes use lime and mineral-rich combustion byproducts to treat, pasteurize, immobilize and convert the wastes into useful products. In a very short time since its promotion the company has attained a sales revenue of over $40 million. In October 1993, the company went public with underwriting by Robertson Stephens, Raymond James, Oppenheimer & Co., and Paine Webber.

Bureaucracy and Red Tape is same everywhere in the world!!!

When I was in India I would often be bewildered and frustrated by the way government functioned. The way center and states fought with each other and bureaucrats hindered the work. The end result would be to slow down the over progress of the nation. I was under the impression that this kind of tussling and infighting happened only in nations like India where there is enormous diversity in culture, language, religion, traditions, etc.

Boy, was I wrong... this seems to be the norm everywhere in the world, even in the supposedly most developed, richest, and powerful nation in the world - the US. Recently I heard a news item on KERA, a member station of National Public Radio that confirmed to me beyond doubt that bureaucracy and red tape most often hinder a nation's progress because of their obstinacy to follow rules by the letter.

Illegal immigration has been a problem of this continent since the first ship landed from Europe, bringing hordes of white people who massacred and decimated native populations to establish what is known today as the United States of America. This post is not about that historical illegal immigration, but about the recent issues since the modern democracies were established across the world post World War II. States of the US bordering Mexico, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California, have the largest influx of illegal immigrants historically.

The Federal government has been attempting to stem this influx by putting in place several measures that included installation of border fences, employing border patrols, deporting illegal immigrants, etc. At local government level one Texas city attempted to discourage illegal immigration by passing a law that prevented land lords from renting properties/ homes/ apartments to people who don't have legal standing to stay in this country. Logically speaking I would have expected the Federal government to applaud this measure and encourage other cities to pass similar laws.

Unfortunately this didn't happen, on the contrary a Dallas Federal Judge struck down this law on the grounds that controlling illegal immigration was the job of federal government alone. This sends out a serious message to the people in local governments and also to the illegal immigrants. The latter rejoice because now even if a local government official is aware of their status, he/ she can't do anything about it, only the federal government can take action.

Taking the judges logic to its extreme I wonder if common people should keep quiet if they see a crime taking place. Fighting the crime is the job of Police, so citizens should just report and watch quietly as the incident takes place. I would like to know other people's opinions on this.

Branson, Missouri: The best holiday destination for Spring Breakers!!!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

I moved to the United States in late 2007 and since then I have taken every opportunity to travel within the country. I have enjoyed touring cities, national parks, tourist destinations and watching shows. Places with an abundance of natural wealth, adventure activities, and recreational opportunities are among my favored destinations.

Branson, MO is one of my preferred holiday locations because the city offers unlimited opportunities for shopping, golf, and live shows. While in Branson, my preferred hotels are one of the Hiltons. Either the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing or at the Hilton Branson Convention Center. Why do I prefer to stay here, it is simply because both the hotels are located within easy reach of shopping areas, boutiques, classy restaurants, river walk, and other attractions.

Right now the Hilton hotels have some great offers. The one I would opt for would be the Golf Package being offered in collaboration with Payne Stewart Golf Club by the Hilton Promenade. With rates starting from $209 this package is definitely a wonderful bargain in my opinion. The best thing about this package is that, it is on until Feb 2011. Another package I am highly attracted towards is the Romance Package, I would probably go there for our anniversary and enjoy the "do not disturb" getaway.

The save with Visa Package will get you a discount of 25% the Best Available Rate. Now that is what I call great savings. Look up the website of Hilton to know about the packages and I bet you will immediately end up booking your holiday.

India's Bio Weapons

Biological weapons have been used by several nations in the past, most notably by late Saddam Hussein against his own people (Kurds). The weapons were toxic nerve gas that caused permanent tissue damage to those who inhaled it. There was never a bio weapon that is non-toxic. But now there is one such weapon... Thanks to India's innovative scientists. I read a news report on MSN that for once praises India's efforts in this direction.

Chilli powder has always been used as a weapon by women to fight off assailants, because it was easily available at home and of course easy to use. But to think of actually converting this into a weapon.. that too a small thumb sized gadget is simply great. Once again Indian scientists have proved their mettle by coming with an innovative gadget.

This move will hopefully give a boost to the economy in the North Eastern states of India where there are more terrorist organizations than anywhere else in the country. Hopefully terrorists will be flushed out and imprisoned and common people allowed to go about their lives peacefully.

US taking baby steps towards providing public healthcare...

Last year around this time there were numerous articles in the US newspapers about how Indian public healthcare system is in shambles and can't take care of its people and how Indian private healthcare facilities is being used by Americans who can't afford health insurance here. But a little later a few months later when newly elected president Obama started talking about healthcare reform the same journalists started criticizing it.

After much arguing and fighting between Democrat and Republican parties the healthcare reform bill was finally signed by President Obama. This will hopefully usher in a new era of affordable healthcare for everyone in the country. I am quite sure it will be slow and perhaps painful process but hopefully the progress will be steady and there will be a day when nobody in this country will have to run to some third world country like India or China to get their hearts operated upon because they can't afford to get it done in their own country.

Beautify your Trucks this summer!!!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of RealTruck.Com. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love trucks, though I am yet to own one. I have noticed that trucks, like motorcycles are enjoyed more during summer. Probably because people here love to spend more time outdoors during the sunny summer months. This is also the time when the trucks and cars start getting makeovers. Enthusiastic truck owners work on their trucks and enhance both the beauty as well as power of the vehicle. New paint jobs are commissioned, different truck accessories such as mufflers, lights, racks, etc are installed.

Showrooms and online stores refurbish their inventory of parts and accessories which will enable enthusiastic owners to customize their vehicles. Whether one owns one of the most popular pickups and cars from American manufacturers such as Ford, GM, Chrysler, Jeep, etc or imported cars such as Mazda, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, or Toyota; they all make a beeline to online parts and accessories stores to get their preferred items to dress up, modify or upgrade their loved set of wheels.

Some people prefer to modify their vehicles under the hood and work on enhancing the engine performance, maybe install new exhaust systems and get the preferred sound. Others prefer to make their cars look better by installing custom front bumpers, grilles, hood, side windows, truck rack, truck beds, tailgates, seats, etc.

In this jungle of automobile accessories there are few top brands that enthusiasts look for. Brands such as Access, Weathertech, Westin, TruXedo and others are more popular than others.

The best incentive of online shopping is always the cheaper price. Stores such as RealTruck.com provide a low price guarantee.

America's budget deficit forcing it to tax hitherto untouched religious groups???

Recently I read an article online about the state of US Economy. This comes after a few years of economic decline. The federal budget deficit stood at $7.5 trillion at the end of 2009 and is projected to double by 2020. These are amazing figures indeed, but the world and particular creditor nations such as Japan, India, China, etc don't seem to be bothered... or perhaps they are keeping their fingers crossed waiting for the US economy to rise again.

In the meanwhile this particular writer Sam Hodges writing in the Dallas Morning News' religion blog chased the question of whether religious organizations and non-profits should be taxed. The responses from academics, researchers, pastors, and other religion intellectuals are quite revealing.

The unanimous opinion of the experts seem to suggest that these organizations should not be taxed. One expert says that taxing churches would be "disastrous both philosophically and practically;" another expert suggests: "religious groups should not be taxed as long as they obey the laws concerning nonprofits and religious organizations". There are numerous other opinions but in effect they all say that religious institutions must be left alone and even their employees such as pastors, priests, etc should not be taxed.

After reading the article I thought back about the state of Hindu temples in India. The money/ income from temples are taken away and funneled into renovation and development of Churches and Mosques. On the contrary Mosques and Churches enjoy total independence as far as their income and financing are concerned. When I think of these things I believe that there is absolutely no equality in India. I hope somebody in the government will have enough sense to bring the entire billion plus people under one common civil and criminal law.

Uniquely Flavorful and absolutely delicious pizza!!!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Tony's Pizza. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love pizza of all kinds, shapes, crusts, toppings etc, so long as it is vegetarian. So recently when I received coupons to sample the new Crispy Crust pizza from Tony's I just jumped at the offer. The moment I received coupons on mail I went straight to the grocery store and bought the Cheese pizza from Tony's. I wanted to make my family also share my experience with this new pizza and immediately set out to bake this wonderfully crispy pizza.

When the pizza came out of the oven my first reaction was "Wow, this looks real delicious,". Soon we were sitting and enjoying the scrumptious pizza and watching the latest movie. That evening we had two more pizzas and it became a better end of the day because of the pizza. Truly Tony's Pizza is one of the best frozen delights I have had thus far. It is cheesy, crispy, and tastes wonderful. More than that my family members who don't like pizza that much loved this particular one.

In my opinion if you are a pizza lover you must try Tony's pizza at least once. I am sure you will get hooked to it. I could make it even better, let me know if you are interested I could share one or two coupons with you. The coupons are valid year round and you could indulge in some free pizza.

Spring Forward

One of the annual rituals in the US that kinda makes life go slower or faster... at least for a day... is the daylight savings time. In fall the nation falls backward by one hour... all the clocks are reset one hour backward on on particular day (First Sunday of November). Then three months the clocks run an hour slower through the cold winter months only to get reset one hour ahead at the beginning of Spring (Second Sunday of March).

I really wonder why such a big deal is made about this daylight savings considering that the number of hours in a day does not change irrespective of the season. It only increases or decreases one hour on that particular day. This is the way the US has decided to handle daylight savings.... Till I came here I had not heard about this concept at all. I may have studied about it in my high-school geography... I don't remember any of it, anyway.

Egypt Aggressively Repossessioning Stolen Art Works

All ancient civilizations across the world have been subject to ruthless plundering by unscrupulous elements in the world. The greatest plunderers have been Europeans and Arabs. As I write this post the largest trove of emeralds lies in the treasury of Turkey, property of India, plundered by Nadir Shah during the 18th century. A visit to any of the world famous museums in London, Paris, Berlin, or any other European nation would reveal hundreds of artworks plundered by these nations when they were busy colonizing the rest of the world.

Anyway today I was listening to National Public Radio while driving home from work and this news caught my attention. There was a report that a 3000-year old stolen Sarcophagus - highly decorated wooden coffin - was seized by the US customs in Miami and Egypt government staked a claim. Following some back and forth communications the US has agreed to return the Stolen Sarcophagus to Egypt.

During the program one Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities was interviewed. The Egyptian authorities don't know anything about the Sarcophagus except the name of the person buried in it. They feel that it was stolen from Egypt in 1970 but there are no facts known. But still they pursued and pressed for its return. That is the true spirit of patriotism and national pride. According to Hawass over 30,000 artworks have been repossessed during the past few years. The Egyptian government continues to press for return of many other major artworks including those housed in Louvre, and other globally renowned museums.

I am quite impressed by the way Egyptian government is pursuing its heritage and pressing for its return. Even though the present Egyptian population and its government are Islamic they are interested in their non-Islamic past and want to preserve it as part of their national heritage.

I wish Indian government would set up a similar council to chase after the plunderers and repossess all the art, and wealth that was plundered from our country during the 1200 years of Islamic and Christian colonization of our country. It is time that the westerners who plundered India said sorry and returned the things they stole from us. They can't return the people whom they killed but at least they can return our art works!!!

Pictures in this post was sourced from NPR who sourced it from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Introducing Hero Stones

During the wintermester I took up a course in basic/ introduction to Humanities. The course was supposed to introduce students to humanistic traditions of art, architecture, music, etc from around the world. Unfortunately the textbook is written in such a way that the complete focus of the curriculum is on European, specifically post-renaissance culture. Every major culture/ tradition was represented in the textbook and the course barring Indian/ Hindu. As part of the course requirements I created a presentation to introduce the tradition of Hero Stones to the class. Here is the presentation for you all to look at and comment:

Hero Stone

View more presentations from srinidhilv.

When and How to Ask for a Raise

One of the biggest dilemmas of my career so far has been asking for a raise at work. First of all I have a big hesitation to ask for anything... even if something is rightfully mine, I find it difficult to ask for it. This hesitation has cost me heavily in terms of salary for my work. I have been trying to get rid of this hesitation. One of the resources I have used is reading articles by career experts on how and when to ask for raise.

One of the recent articles I read on this subject is one titled "Timing Important When Asking for a Raise". This is a pretty detailed treatise which details a few specific scenarios that are ideal while asking for a raise.



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Stamps Redefining Historical Relationships!!!

For several years since India attained independence (1947) the name of the father of nation Mahatma Gandhi has been used, misused, and abused by pretty much every opportunistic unscrupulous individual, family, business, and nation. One of the biggest historical blunders of India has been the use of the last name "Gandhi" by the heir's of Jawaharlal Nehru. Obviously this has given them awesome political mileage and enabled their family to be at the helm of affairs in India.

Little did I expect that this misnomer would go so far that people in other parts of the world would actually start thinking that the descendants of Nehru as heir's of Gandhi. Unfortunately this has happened. I came across this stamp/ souvenir sheet on sale on Ebay the seller has titled the listing as "Gandhi and Family Souvenir Sheet". I wrote to the seller to get more details and he said it was issued by the African country Djibouti.



I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this blunder. I request all blog readers to spread this message among other Indians who are aware of the history so that everyone may lodge a protest against Djibouti and the ebay seller who are propagating this erroneous facts.

Surprising Rule Passed in a Muslim-Majority Nation

I came across an interesting and quite surprising news item online. The headline "Uzbekistan orders sterilization, group alleges - The Boston Globe" drew me to read the short piece.

I am totally surprised that a Muslim-majority country has dared to pass a law to control population. At the same time I am quite happy too, that someone somewhere is taking steps to stem the population explosion that is threatening the very existence of life on earth. I hope the law will not be repealed because of pressure from human rights, and other groups.

This is a necessary law across the world, specially so in countries where culture/ religious beliefs proscribe population control. Along with legislation the government should also partner with grassroots level non-profits to advocate the benefits of having a small family and educate the masses about the perils of population explosion.

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March Madness

Two months up in the year and it seems like the new year started yesterday. Time flies and as you get older times seems to pass faster, this is not my opinion but that of experts. I heard on NPR (National Public Radio) a few weeks ago that recently scientists have discovered that as we get older our brain gets slower. Apparently the capacity of the brain to read time and process its passage gradually recedes and this is why the older we get time seems to fly faster.

It is indeed an interesting theory the speakers on the show propagated. They suggested that as we grow older the number of uniquely different experiences become lesser and as such we forget day to day activities. They say that when we experience something unique for example, the first kiss, will be remembered for far longer than the 10th or the 100th....

I somewhat tend to agree with them but I think there is more to this than just memory and perception. I am pretty sure there is more to it and researchers will come up with newer theories on this subject. Like they say only time can answer these questions.

8.8 quake hits Chile... Pacific countries on Tsunami alert

Are these signs of 2012

During the past few months there have been massive earthquakes across the world. India, Pakistan, China, South East Asia, Haiti and now Chile, have all been rocked by earthquakes causing death and devastation. Has anyone bothered to sit back and wonder why so many natural disasters are taking place? The Mayan Calendar ends at 2012 and there is a widespread belief that the world as we know it will come to an end.

I wonder if we need to consider these signs as those warning us humans of what is going to happen if we continue to exploit nature and destroy the earth. Every nation is delving into the depths of the earth seeking its wealth, oil, precious metals, and some like Iran simply to build nuclear facilities.

If this continues it wont be long before the world actually comes to an end....


Huge quake hits Chile; tsunami threatens Pacific - Boston.com

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Free Web-based teleconferencing feature!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Speek. All opinions are 100% mine.

When technology is so advanced as here in the US it is often difficult for people to be physically present at meetings. Executives are increasingly multitasking while going about their daily lives. For example a busy executive may be driving his son to the football game and attending an important business teleconference call, else answering e-mail through a hand held device.

Innovative inventors are unleashing newer and newer technologies to speed up communications and increase convenience to end users. One such new tool to hit the market is Speek, currently in in private beta this is a FREE web-based teleconferencing system. The company is currently inviting users to register for private beta and evaluate their service quality. The unique selling proposition of this system is that the system will dial out to the participants. The system is compatible with land lines, mobile phones and voice-over-internet applications like Skype and GoogleTalk.

Speek invites all businesses, non-profits and other users to visit their website and get Free registration for the beta service. If you have been using teleconferencing facilities from commercial operators and paying hefty fees, here is your opportunity to get the same service for free. The biggest advantage with speek is the fact that it supports dialing to Skype and GoogleTalk also.

Rise in Marijuana Use among American Seniors

A strange and rather surprising trend was reported in today's news. The headline screamed out "Marijuana Use by Seniors Goes up as Boomers Age". These were the same folk who enjoyed the magic drug back in the 1960s and 1970s. Now they are back at it after retirement, to have some senior fun and relaxation.
I wonder if this is the example today's youth should be emulating? What will be the future of today's youth if the trend continues? During the 1960s and 1970s the communications and transportation was not so rapid. Drug trafficking was not so rampant, even if that generation was hooked on "grass" it was not this easy to get it, I suppose. Now with the proliferation of markets and easy availability of the drug and with so many senior people to emulate, I wonder what lessons the youth will learn when they read this article.
Too many questions and too few answers...

US set to allow guns inside national parks - The Boston Globe

I read a news report titled US set to allow guns inside national parks - The Boston Globe and this is quite a news. I am pretty sure that the happiest people as a result of this law will be in the state of Texas. Living here I have come to know that most native Texans love their freedom and their guns. This the land of cowboys and the wild west where not too long ago people survived by the law of "Who shoots first lives".

Personally speaking I would say this is indeed a victory to personal choice, but a defeat to humanity. Victory for personal choice to carry guns is sad because that means the crime in National parks has gone up forcing the authorities to enable visitors to arm themselves for self defense. Defeat to humanity because despite all this modern development, prosperity and improvement of quality of life people still resort to crime to make a living.

I wonder if we as humans are on retrograde motion. Humans are the only animals that can choose their actions and if crime is increasing that means more and more humans are giving up their thinking ability and just becoming like animals, grabbing what they want, whether it belongs to them or others. I wonder whether this madness will ever end.....



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Enjoy an Italian Weekend right here in the US

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love to travel whenever I get the opportunity: spring break, summer vacations, winter holidays, long weekends and any other time I have a few days on hand. One of my most favorite holiday hotspots within continental America is Branson, Missouri. Why do I love visiting Branson? The answer is pretty simple this is one location that offers something for every member of the family. This is one place that probably offers the largest number of live shows, concerts, and theater entertainment options. Some people call it the Live Music Capital of the world.

When we go to Branson the hotel of choice is of course either the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel or the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing. I recently came to know that the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel is putting together this wonderful Italian Food Festival the last weekend of February. Titled Italian Culinary Weekend this event is scheduled to be staged from Friday, February 26 2010 through Saturday, February 27, 2010. Friday’s inaugural reception will feature antipasto and hors d’oeuvres paired with tongue tickling Italian wines. The most entertaining/ interesting part of the event is going to be on Saturday when participants will get an opportunity to try their hands at cooking their favorite Italian food.

Hilton is offering several wonderful packages starting from $429.00 (excluding tax and gratuity) for two. This is something that is not to be missed, especially since the package includes a five-course dinner and a goodie bag on Saturday. The only catch however is to make reservations before February 23, 2010.
Time is of essence if you want to take advantage of this opportunity. Go ahead and enjoy the Italian weekend, it is time for some post-valentine celebrations.

Amazing Giant Crystals

I came across this article titled The Mega Crystals of Naica Mine on Yahoo. The picture looked amazing hence I read the entire article. This is one place I'd love to visit and I am pretty sure every caver would love to explore. I have seen crystal caves in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra in India but none of them this huge. These crystals are easily the largest in the world and it proves once again that nature is capable of wonders that human mind can't even imagine....



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Match-making based on your disease

I read this news article online and was pretty surprised at the way in which the human brain works. Apparently this dating website is aimed at hooking up people with same diseases. Hitherto dating sites attempted to match people based on their preferences, astrology, likes and dislikes, activities, etc. I guess this is the first time a site has been floated to specifically match people based on their ailments.
Interesting indeed, when your partner gets sick with a disease divorce him/ her so they can find someone with the same disease.

Shocking News: Parents Imprison Teen girl in bathroom

Every once in a while I come across strange and often shocking news, which illustrate the worse-than-beastly character of human beings. According to an article I read a 14-yr-old girl was imprisoned in the bathroom of a residence by her father and step-mother because she had allegedly stolen some food and cheated on a home school test. Locking her up, beating her with metal rods and making her exercise was the punishment. This has been going on for the past two months.

Come on guys she is 14 and as all teens are I guess she has a robust appetite. She must have eaten some food from the refrigerator between meals. Why home school her when there are wonderful schools in the US. For god's sake, you are not living in some underdeveloped sub-Saharan African nation. This guy is living in US of A, the world's richest nation. Same goes for food. Food wasted in the US can feed 27 small nations in the world. So there is absolutely no food scarcity.

I think this man is simply sick.. mentally ill. He and his wife should be safely locked up and the girl should be adopted by someone who really cares for her well being. But in this country where lawyers are more powerful than justice, will this happen?

Basic Travel Conveniences get a price tag!!!

I have seldom traveled in air. The longest air journey I have undertaken thus far in my life was when I came from my home country. Since then I have flown three times within the US, once each to California, New Jersey, and Detroit. Every time I flew I was offered a courtesy blanket and pillow to relax in the pretty basic economy seats. Today I read on MSN that one of the leading airlines in the US, American is going to charge a fee of $8 for this basic necessity.

Luckily this is only applicable for domestic flights. International travelers, specially my compatriots who have to endure the 14-18 hour flight will get these basic necessities without having to pay more. This is apparently an "economic decision"... of course to make more money at the passengers expense. In the recent decade more airlines have come into the market and hence large airlines like American had to drop prices. I don't know whether this price drop is hurting American or not, but I definitely understand that the financial guys are smart. They know how to make money on the sly and they will do it.

Fighting to Save the Whales

Most wildlife on Earth have become endangered species thanks to human greed. Most of these animals are consumed as food, medicine, clothes, etc in various countries. One such mammalian species that has been attracting attention is the Whale. In countries like Japan the whale is consumed as food and its oil is used in numerous applications.

There are several environmental groups that are fighting to prevent commercial whaling by Japanese ships. Recently there was a mid-sea collision of a Whaler and an activist ship off the coast of Antarctica. This is the second clash that is taking place this year. The whaler ships are quite ruthless in their operations, they just crash into opposing boats and try to sink them.

The activists on the other hand are quite dedicated and are willing to fight for their cause - saving the whales from being hunted. These people are mostly volunteers who are out there on the high seas with nothing to gain. I wonder when the human race will become responsible consumers of earth's resources.

Real Life Sleeping Beauty in Britain

How would you like to sleep for 13 days at a stretch??? I am quite sure lot of us would like to get some more sleep than we are getting now, but 13 days... that sounds a tad too much. I read about and watched a video about this British girl who is afflicted with a rare medical condition that makes her sleep for days at a stretch. It is so rare that only about 1,000 people in the world of 6 billion could have this condition.

Statuettes at Kimbell

Last Sunday we visited the Kimbell art museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Here are pictures of some interesting artworks in their permanent collection. There are many paintings in the collection, but I am interested in sculptures so I captured only those that appealed to me. I am not so enamored by European sculptures because in my opinion they are too boring. Sculptural art from South America, Africa and Asian countries are much more vibrant and interesting. There is some kind of intrigue, mystery, and rugged aesthetics.

Sculpture from South America

Sculpture from Africa

Visiting Kimbell Art Museum

Visiting museums in the US of A is usually an expensive affair, entry fees, parking, membership, etc... etc.. are associated with every art gallery/ museum. Of course most of these museums are state owned. Then there are few private collections of super rich Americans, which are accessible to everyone free. Kimbell museum in Fort Worth, Texas is one such free art space which is accessible to everyone. There are two collections one is a permanent collection and the other is the private collections. The permanent collection is free while the private collection is ticketed. We visited the permanent collection today.

Entrance to the museum

Mayan Sculpture on display in the Kimbell Museum

Blog About Bangalore

When I was back home in Bangalore I made an attempt to compile all the information about interesting spots around the city. One of the reasons was that there were too many people criticizing my home town as being a boring place with nothing interesting. I wanted to compile data and publish a book as a response to these nay-sayers. Something that never happened, perhaps my efforts were not true enough. Well I recently came to the conclusion that instead of just sitting on the data and pictures that I have collected I would just upload all of it online.
That led me to promote another blog titled "Our Bengaluru". It is right now has only few posts and very little information. So I have made it only on invitation. If someone wants to know more about the blog they need to write to me to provide them access to the blog.

Happy Republic Day 2010

It is India's 60th Republic Day tomorrow (January 26), of course Indians in Dallas already celebrated the event on Saturday. The true celebration and the fantastic parade of the Indian army can be seen on TV. It is one of the grandest events in the Subcontinent. I have never attended one of the parades personally but have watched it on TV for several years.
Due to the terrorist threats from across the border the security measures have been heightened in Delhi in the past few years. I wonder why our neighboring country which got its everything from our country is so hell bent on fomenting terror. It is ironical that they broke away from India and instead of becoming a richer, prosperous nation they have degenerated into terrorism, regional strife and poverty. While India though experiencing hostile neighbors in all sides, terror attacks from more than one neighbor, and numerous internal problems has tread the path of national development and is slowly but surely emerging as a economic power. I wonder when the fanatic neighbors will realize this and start improving the quality of life of their citizens.
Anyway for now it is a very happy Republic Day to all of you.

Three weeks into the new year....

The new year is usually time for resolutions and this time around people usually start wavering from theirs. Well as for me I have never made New Year Resolutions in my life and so this is not something significant. I did start on a new course in my career and life this new year, hopefully this will be a smooth transition into what I will ultimately be doing. Only time will tell whether it will be or not.

A New Beginning!!!

In the past 30-odd years of my life I have had a job for over 10 years. I have been working on odd jobs, freelance writing, etc... in short being self employed for sometime also. Since arriving in the US smack in the middle of the economic downturn I have been struggling to land a "proper job". The struggle continues...

The new beginning which I talk about in the headline of this post is a career switch. Something that I have done in the past but not something this radical. I have moved from being a graphic designer to a writer-editor but the industry remained the same publishing/ newspapers.

I will be starting a new course tomorrow. This semester will be aimed at providing me the necessary job-skills for a specific profession. I sure hope this new beginning will get me a step ahead towards my final goal. It is like Neil Armstrong said "A step on moon is equal to a giant leap to mankind" or something like that. Tomorrow's beginning I hope will be something like this.

Kashmiri Hindus Suffering Silently since two decades

Islamic Terror reared its ugly head in India way back in the late 1980s. It was masquerading in the guise of freedom fighters of Kashmir who wanted to separate the state of Jammu and Kashmir from the republic of India. It was and probably continues to be supported by the Muslim majority of the state.

On 19th January 1990, terrorism became so rampant that hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri Hindus didn't have any option but to leave their homes and become refugees in their own country. Their homes were plundered by marauding neighbors, Hindu men were killed mercilessly and women were raped and tortured in the most inhuman manner possible. The then ruling congress government instead of taking stringent military action against the terrorists told the Kashmiri Hindus to move to makeshift refugee camps in Jammu, Delhi and other parts of the country.

A majority of these refugees continue to live in these camps as refugees in their own country. The local and national government or the human rights agencies doesn't seem to be concerned about the plight of these displaced people.

Now across the world this day is being celebrated as the Kashmiri Hindu Exile Day I wonder when the world will stand up and take notice of the untold atrocities being inflicted upon Kashmiri Hindus by the Islamic terrorists in their homeland and the apathetic government in India. These people certainly deserve to be given their basic human rights.

Happy Makara Sankra & Pongal

Today is Makara Sankranti and Pongal Festivals, a festival that is associated with the movement from darkness to light. Today is the day when the sun begins its northward motion. When I was in India I didn't really bother to celebrate the festival to the fullest extant, but now being in the US there is little opportunity to participate. Moreover whatever one does the ambiance is never right here. A Hindu festival is best enjoyed in the land where it originated, i.e. Bharat/ India.

I can only make a resolution that next time I visit my home and if it is providentially during a festival I should participate complete in the celebrations. Here it is limited to customary temple visit, possibly eating out and maybe visiting some friends.

Neglected Hero Stones - Ignored History

For my school project I made a PPT on the ancient Indian tradition of installing Hero Stones in memory of those who sacrificed their life in defense of their community, village, kingdom or country. As I compiled the presentation I realized that I have a pretty good repository of pictures of different types of Hero Stones. I thought it would be a good collection to share on this blog.

Hero Stone in Tumkur district, Karnataka, India

Damaged Hero Stone in Tamil Nadu

Cold Wave Hits DFW

Today has been by far the coldest day in Dallas since I moved here two years ago. The precipitation was so high that there was black ice all over the roadways which resulted in couple of accidents. Our college closed for the day so as all the schools and few offices. Driving was supposed to be a pain in the metroplex... I was wondering how it would be in far northern parts of the US where it snows for 6 months and there is freezing temperatures.

Longest Car Jump on New Year Eve

I received a link to this video as an e-mail forward. This video shows the amazing dare devil car driver Travis Pastrana jumping 269 ft in his car to make a new world record on New Year eve. An amazing feat indeed, something that needs courage, confindence and of course a fantastic car... and youtube to make it popular in the internet.

Letter to Bill Gates - totally hilarious

I received this Banta Singh joke as an e-mail forward and thought I'd post it here. This is completely hilarious and only a totally innocent and naive individual can think so much out of the box. The writer of the joke displays a child-like innocence in this letter to Bill Gates.

Dear Mr. Bill Gates,

We have bought a computer for our home and we have found some problems, which I want to bring to your notice.

1. There is a button 'Start' but there is no 'Stop' button. We request you to check this.

2. One doubt is whether any 'Re-scooter' is available in system? I find only 'Re-cycle', but I own a scooter at my home.

3. There is 'Find' button but it is not working properly. My wife lost the door key and we tried a lot trace the key with this 'find' button, but was unable to trace. Please rectify this problem.

4. My child learned 'Microsoft Word' now he wants to learn 'Microsoft sentence', so when you will provide that?

5. I bought computer, CPU, mouse and keyboard, but there is only one icon which shows 'My Computer': when you will provide the remaining items?

6.. It is surprising that windows says 'MY Pictures' but there is not even a single photo of mine. So when will you keep my photo in that.

7. There is 'MICROSOFT OFFICE' what about 'MICROSOFT HOME' since I use the PC at home only.

8. You provided 'My Recent Documents'. When you will provide 'My Past Documents'?

9. You provide 'My Network Places'. For God sake please do not provide 'My Secret Places'. I do not want to let my wife know where I go after my office hours.

Regards,
Banta


P.S.
Last one to Mr. Bill Gates: Sir, how is it that your name is GATES but you are selling WINDOWS?

Protect your iPhone, iPod and BlackBerry devices

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Pexagon Technology. All opinions are 100% mine.

I just read online that in the last quarter alone over 8 million iPhones were sold. I am pretty sure an equal number of iPods and BlackBerry devices were also bought by enthusiastic youngsters and geeks. Well these devices are by no means cheap or sturdy, these are delicate darlings in electronics.

After investing 100s of $s I wouldn't want my iPhone to fall and get damaged. But most protective cases/ boxes are bulky and take away the style quotient that surrounds the device. This was the case until recently and iPhone enthusiasts were risking their devices by handling them without protective cases.

The New Year comes with new innovative products, the first of them being personalized Apple & BlackBerry cases. These cases cost a mere $5 and protect your investment with style. The new cases are available in multiple colors and the manufacturers are offering FREE personalization and it gets even better, the shipping and handling is also FREE.

For a small sum of $5 you can get a personalized case for your iPhone 3G or for a BlackBerry Curve 8300, shipped free to your home. These cases are made out of resilient silicone rubber or plastic for apple while the BlackBerry cases are made of silicone. The rear end of the case will be have your name/ text/ logo engraved. The best part of the deal is that there are no minimum order requirements, you can order only one for yourself and it will cost you only $5 for the case, personalization and shipping.

Currently cases are available for the following BlackBerry® devices Curve™ 8300 and 8900; Bold™ 9000 and Tour™ 9630. Cases for iPhone 3G/3Gs
and iPod touch 2G are available. This product promises to become the hottest accessory of 2010.

Happy New Year 2010

Today is the first day of the New Year 2010 and the second decade of the 21st century. The next few decades will be momentous in terms of the direction they are going to steer the world. Whether the world will be a peaceful place or a turbulent strife-torn land mass will be decided in the next couple of decades. Whether global warming will pose greater threats to human existence or whether new technologies will help rejuvenate the earth's biosphere, time alone can answer.

I would simply say enjoy the present with what you have because the future may turn out in any way and we may not enjoy what we can today.

Movie Review: Venkata in Sankata

Laughter all the way
Cast: Ramesh Arvind, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Umashree and others;
Director: Ramesh Arvind

All through my college days I would hear about the loss of quality in the Kannada cinema. I was never a big time movie watcher and hence it didn't do much to change my opinion. Now after coming to the US I actually started watching movies of all types, primarily out of boredom. Being a poor student I can't afford to do many of the cool things such as bowling, going to the movies, eating out, etc. So what is the best form of entertainment. Yes watching movies on youtube. As I watched English, and Hindi movies I decided to look for recent Kannada movies and watch them.

Yesterday I watched this notoriously hilarious Kannada movie Venkata in Sankata. Out of the 2 hr 21 minutes, if I said I laughed for 2 hrs it would not be false. The movie is completely funny and every scene has a bit of humor. Ramesh is a great actor and he has proved that he is a great director too.

The movie traces the professional life and adventures of police sub inspector Venkata whose fate always seems to be against him. His colleague somehow always seems to take credit for his actions and a frustrated Venkata is yearning to do something about it.

There is a terrorist attack in the city and Venkata is assigned the case. The way he goes about doing it and win forms the gist of the story. In between there is the heroine and few songs which add the necessary "oomph" factor to the movie. Even without these added gimmicks the movie is a good entertainer.

If you have lost hope about Kannada Cinema, watch this and I am sure you will change your opinion.

Post Christmas Slump

Yesterday was Christmas with lots of snow and ice and most shops were closed after heavy festival sales. One would naturally expect the sales to continue through new year. But today's shoppers got a rude surprise when they hit the stores... the prices were back to their highs and only the clearance items were cheap and low priced. American retailers sure know how to get customers into their stores and make them spend more than they expected to.
At least it is good for the economy, someone is making money.

Christmas Snow

This is the first snowy Christmas in the past 3 years that I have been here. It started off as a mild rain yesterday morning and soon turned into a snowfall and by nightfall it was a full blown snow fall. The roads were covered with a carpet of snow and it was dangerous to drive.

Online Knowledgebase

The internet is a huge repository of information. How much of it can be considered knowledge is a big question. General searches will throw up millions of websites that contain related data. It is very difficult to find authentic, relevant and correct information/ data/ knowledge on the subjects we are searching for. Looking at this chaos entrepreneurs have come up with their solutions. One of the recent developments is the springing up for websites which contain articles on various subjects.

For example a search on Health Weight Loss would yield thousands of responses on a search engine. But by visiting this dedicated site which contains articles by experts on the related subject it would be lot easier to find the information we are looking for.

One might argue that there are so many websites that contain articles on all subjects, what is the big deal about another one that is joining the web. Well I agree that there are several websites that features articles on various subjects but how many of them feature articles that are written by experts? How many feature articles with references and further reading on the research?

These are some of the things one needs to look for while looking up for an article base on the internet.

Vistas of Meteor Crater

Yesterday I blogged about our visit to Meteor Crater and how the private owners have created a swank shopping and educative space in the desert. This is a very successful business model which benefits the individual, visitors and the government. The individual owner of the property preserves, maintains, and promotes the place. Visitors get the opportunity to learn about meteors and other space phenomena and the government gets its taxes. It is a win-all situation from all aspects.
Here are some more pictures of the Meteor Crater. I wish they would allow visitors to go down into the depths of the crater, but since they have done some mining in the past looking for precious metals at the site of the meteor fall, they are little wary of letting people inside the crater. For now visitors have to content themselves looking over the rim of the crater and the museum does offer some guided hiking tours which take visitors half-way round the crater.

Meteor Crater, Arizona

Meteor Crater in Arizona is one of the largest craters in the world formed as a result of impact of meteor showers. Surprisingly this crater is not a government owned national monument, but a privately held museum which offers tours, and allows visitors to look around for a fee. One good thing though is that the private owners of this crater have not modified it or exploited the land for commercial purposes. The location continues to be one huge crater located amidst the rugged desert/ arid state of Arizona in the US. This location has been used by the NASA to train astronauts in the past. There have been allegations that the original moon landing by Neil Armstrong, et al was a hoax and that it was filmed here. I don't know about those conspiracy theories, all I know is that I visited this huge crater and stood on its periphery. The attached exhibition is a great place to learn about space explorations, meteors and comets. It would be a great place to take kids to educate them in a fun filled way about space.

Holidays are here, are you ready to make tantalizing Gravy?

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Club House. All opinions are 100% mine.

Every year during Christmas season many women and men get stressed out on a seemingly inconspicuous part of the festivities. These people are worried about making good gravy which is a very integral and tasty part of the traditional Christmas meal. What is the big deal about making Gravy? It is a big deal because making gravy from a scratch is a very time consuming and tedious process. Sourcing the right quality ingredients in the correct quantity can be quite stressful.

I was watching a gravy tips video which provides amazing hints about how to save time and still make the best possible gravy for this festival season. For all those who are worried about their Christmas feast I recommend you watch this educative and entertaining video before you start your cooking. I am sure you will feel relieved at the end of it.

When there is a problem, there is bound to be a solution. The solution in this case is to use some readily available raw materials to prepare gravy. I am talking about the Club House Gravy mix which gives the option to add roast drippings and make great gravy. This is one of the most dependable mix with which you can make wonderful gravy which will be cherished the memories of your family and friends.

This year there will be no tension about preparing the Christmas meal because Club House Gravy mix is here and your cooking time will be greatly reduced. Club House Gravy products bring out their periodical newsletter which offers tips to culinary enthusiasts on cooking and also a contest has been announced on their website. Winners get fabulous prizes, so don't wait just log on and visit the newsletter sign-up and contest entry page. You never know, your lucky day might be just here.

Walnut Canyon: The Grand Finale

I have posted three blogs about Walnut Canyon and I am pretty sure some of you may be quite irritated about it. Anyway here are the final set of pictures I would like to share with you all about Walnut Canyon, next we will talk about Meteor Crater in Arizona, which is famous among many "Moon Landing Fake Theorists" as the location where the entire moon landing was filmed. Anyway that will come later, for now let us look at few more pictures of Walnut Canyon.

Walnut Canyon continued....

The ancient peoples that lived in Walnut Canyon continue to haunt me and I would like to write a little more about them. Looking at their homes, and the surroundings I would conclude that they lived in perilous, hostile and rough areas. The Canyon was surrounded by wilderness and they pretty much built homes on the steep slopes of the canyon. Far below in the valley bed is the flowing river which is the only source of water for these people. To get their regular meal they had to struggle and work hard cultivating corn and hunting in the wilderness. Water had to hauled up from the stream below. I am sure the community lost some of its members because of accidents, they would have just fallen off the path into the ravine and gotten washed away in the river.
Anyway coming back to this post I would like to present some pictures of the steep slopes where the homes were built. A cursory look at the image would not reveal any dwelling/ construction. This I guess provided them a natural camouflage. Look at the pictures and see if you can identify any of the ancient homes.