Hottest day in DFW area!

Today was one the hottest day in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since the past several years. Texas summers have been sizzling since time immemorial, but as the world develops into a more comfortable place for human beings, the planet is getting hotter. This is the direct result of what is known as the 'urban heat island effect' that I read about on Yahoo News.

Due to this urban heat island effect densely populated cities that have turned into concrete jungles are hotter than open rural landscapes with sparse population and few buildings. Anyway the heat reminds me of my travels through the eastern seaboard state of Orissa, India during 2007 summer. The only consolation out there was the humidity that made it possible for the body's regulatory mechanism to kick in and cool down by sweating. Here in Texas the body burns and gets charred, but it wont sweat or steam....

A few more months and then it will be fall, when the good days will be back again.

American Independence Day Celebrations!

Having stayed in this country for three years this is the first time I went to view the American independence day... ooops.. the 4th of July parade and fireworks display. The parade was held at the historic downtown McKinney, it was short, colorful and intense. Everyone from tiny tots to senior citizens participated in the parade enthusiastically waving flags, clapping, cheering and generally being happy to be a part of this country.

The show of support by the people in this quasi-official celebration is pretty impressive. The population of McKinney and surrounding towns might be just over 150,000 but I am pretty sure at least 10,000 people were there to watch the parade. Thoughts took me back to Bangalore, India which hosts over 6 million people and not even 1,000 people turn up for the independence day parade. I wonder why?

Anyway here are some pictures of the parade:

NPR/ KERA repeats identity blunder!

Ever since I came to the United States, I have been disturbed by the fact that even after 500 odd years, the Euro-American majority have not begun to attempt to correct the historical error. i.e. the wrong identity label stamped upon the original peoples of this country/ continent from whom the Europeans usurped the land and built this glorious nation. These original people continue to be referred to as "Indians" even though everyone in the world knows that only those people from India can be referred to by this identity label. The original peoples should be referred to by their ethnic identity, such as Cherokee, Chickasaw, Comanche, etc. There was not one or two such distinctly different ethnic groups but more than 700 before the first Europeans even stepped on this land.

Recently I was listening to National Public Radio while commuting to work and I hear about this important Native American ceremony. The news report was about the first peoples of this nation commemorating the birth of a White Buffalo Calf. The news report started off politically correct by referring to these people as "Native Americans" but as the story progressed it changed once again to refer to them as "Indians".

I wonder how many more centuries these Euro-Americans will take to realize that they need to correct their erroneous identity labels. More than that I am amazed at the billion plus Indians in India and the few million Indians in the United States of America who are silently watching this historical blunder repeat itself again and again. I don't know whether people from India are even aware of the misuse their ethnic identity is undergoing.

I know being one individual I can't fight the system that has been established for over 500 years but I can make my protest to this gross misuse of my ethnic identity label to refer to someone who is not even remotely associated to my culture, nationality, or ethnicity.

Summer heat continues to burn....

Texas Summers are my most disliked seasons in a year. It gets so hot that stepping out of the air conditioned comfort is nearly impossible. I have been spending time reading, browsing the internet, watching movies on youtube and generally passing time at home when I am not at work. On those days that I work the day generally passes fast with a wide variety of experiences. I am hoping that summer will pass quickly and there will be fall, the time before winter when the weather is just right to enjoy outdoors.

Free Healthcare & Housing in the US for Bank Robbers

When I was in middle school I had read the story about a homeless man in New York who tries to go to jail so he can spend the winter away from the biting cold. His rationale that he would be indoors, provided with a warm bed and hot food during the period of winter and then he could come back and live off the streets of New York. I had laughed off the story then, but now I realize that this is precisely what happens to people who end up in prison in the US. They get free housing, food and healthcare. After coming to America few years ago I am reading more and more news reports of actual people employing this method to get their basic needs fulfilled.

The latest example example is a 59-yr-old man from North Carolina, who made headlines on MSNBC recently. According to the news report this guy robbed a bank of $1 and waited patiently in the lobby for the police to arrive and arrest him.

Why did he do that? So that he could get his health problems taken care of and then have a roof over his head for the next couple of years. The man with no job, no insurance and dwindling savings and increasing age decided to commit a crime and get arrested. This way the state/ nation/ government will take care of him for the next couple of years by which time he will be eligible for social security/ old age pension of the federal government.

This is bound to happen in the exploitative capitalistic society that the US has evolved into. Where hardworking employees get 3-6% annual raises while CEOs get at least 24% raises and millions in bonuses. The employees, driven by poverty and desperation when they get old and infirm will resort to this kind of practices in order to barely stay alive.

I wonder if American society will ever change....

Summer burns through Texas

This year we kinda lucked out with the arrival the severe summer heat that Texas is associated with. Summer arrived late but with a vengeance... after a few weeks of bearable heat, yesterday heat wave topped 100 deg F. In fact it was 103 yesterday and as I drove back home strong gusts of searing hot winds blew through the car. I felt as if I was driving through a forest fire of the magnitude of the one that is currently raging in Arizona.

Weather.com, the leading website that provides information about local weather in most of the first world nations always mentions temperature as actual temperature and what it feels like. I am pretty sure yesterday it would have said 102 degree and feels like 109 degree.

Texas sprawling landscapes offer numerous outdoor recreation activities but during the peak summer months and winter months these facilities are bereft of people. Simply because the weather is too hostile for anyone to get out of the comforts of their air-conditioned homes.

I have been planning to go swimming since the past one month but the heat has confined me indoors. Hopefully I will break loose and go one of these days...

Arrows Font

I had been creating text fonts thus far and now I decided to try out a font that had no text but icons, images or clip art. Here is the result, a font full of arrows of different sizes, shapes and genres. It is free to download and use.

Free Wallpapers

I don't claim to be an artist of any kind... I just scribble with a pencil or pen like a child who has nothing to do. Similarly when I get access to a computer design software that is what I try to do and often the results turn out like the one below... I use the final output file as a wallpaper for a few days and then discard it in the trash bin of the computer.

Salary Raises in 2011 - Is History Starting to Repeat?

The other day as I drove home listening to public radio one particular story made my ears perk up. The radio newsreporter was talking about the average salary raises that an American employee and CEO received and the disparity thereof. I somehow couldn't find that article again to cite here but I managed to find a whole lot of other news sources that present more or less the same statistics for this year.

According to CBS News: "The CEOs of most S&P 500 companies raked in an average compensation of $11.4 million in 2010, amounting to a 23 percent pay raise over 2009, according to a new study from labor union coalition the AFL-CIO." That means despite the flagging economy that has resulted in a record unemployment rate of 10 percent CEOs continue to enjoy their benefits and have not compromised on their pay raises and bonuses.

The other end of spectrum, struggling employees of these corporations. Those who have unprotestingly taken the brunt of the economy and have been working hard at their jobs, taken on additional responsibilities, and put in extra hours just to keep their jobs, received pathetic raises, if at all. Another news article on the same subject published in the USA Today mentions that an average American employee received a salary raise of just 2.1%. The article goes on to mention that corporations did not really make large profits to award high raises and bonuses to CEOs, rather they just laid off large number of employees so that they can pay their CEOs.

I believe this is nothing but exploitation of the American worker. Awarding pathetically low salary raises to few employees and laying off many more, while the executives make tons of money is simply exploitation. I wonder how long this kind of corporate exploitation can continue in the US. Of course unions, workers movements, and mass mobilization is not allowed or shunned by the Americans because they represent communist ideology. If that is true then this kind of exploitation of the workers represents what America stood for before the Civil War - "Slavery, Exploitation and Murder of the poor by the rich and powerful"

Computer Games

I have been a gamer from the day of 286 computers. I am pretty sure many of those online haven't even heard about those obsolete machines that had only monochrome monitors and the only sound one heard was that of the fan whirring inside the CPU. Computers and technology has come a long way since then. Now everything is online on the internet and so is this cool game creation platform. I used the platform to create a game with three levels. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Goa bans on foreigner's entry into temples!!!

I read this news report in the online edition of the Times of India and my first reaction was to check out what the readers have to say. Most of the readers are either Indian citizens or people of Indian origin living elsewhere in the world, interested to know what is going on in their home country.

Anyway having lived in the US for the past nearly four years I have seen several different kinds of religiosity. Time and again I have made cross-cultural comparisons and wondered how it would be. Say at any Christian event, men dress up in suits, women in fine dresses. This applies even to the weekly routine Sunday church service. The scene anywhere else is totally different, people dress up in all kinds of clothes, keeping in mind the latest trends.

Now when these people travel to India how is it that they think it is ok to go to a temple wearing bikini's. Agreed that Indian temples are not air conditioned like American churches. Indian churches are not air conditioned either, would they go to one of their own religious spaces in such clothes?

So if Hindu temples decide to impose a dress code or ban entry of foreigners into their religious spaces there is nothing wrong. If the intent of visiting a temple is tourism, then they don't need to go there. If it is spiritual learning then devotees need to be dressed appropriately.

Lake Texoma

Earlier this week we visited Lake Texoma, I have already blogged about the Eisenhower State Park through which we got access to this 100,000 acre water body. We hiked about 2 miles in the park along the beautiful hiking trail that follows the banks of the lake. The waters are flanked by high sandstone cliffs and unfortunately in some places the rock surfaces are inundated by names of people who want to leave their mark on unprotesting nature. The state park brochures, maps and signs implore visitors to leave nothing but their footprints. Some visitors think it important to carve out their names on the rock faces thus defacing the natural beauty of the place. I can understand uneducated folk in third world nations indulging in such nefarious activities but here in America... it is a shame that people are still not aware of how to protect their environment. I was too disgusted to capture any pictures of the rock defacement.

Here are pictures of the wonderful Lake Texoma.

Eisenhower State Park & Lake Texoma

I was off work for couple days after the long weekend during which America remembered its war heroes with respect and adoration. Now that I have the Texas State Park Pass I wanted to explore all the state parks within easy access. So we decided to drive an hour north to Denison, TX which is home to two major attractions: Eisenhower State Park located on the banks of Lake Texoma and the Eisenhower birthplace museum. The former is located outside the city and is a quiet, wooded and hilly locale.

View of Lake Texoma

Lake Texoma is actually a dam built across the Red River bang on the border of Texas and Oklahoma. The lake spans across a vast area of nearly 100,000 acres and has an additional few thousand acres of wooded parkland around. The wilderness around the lake teems with wildlife, deer, possum, armadillo, and other creatures live in harmony with visitors to the park. The park has a 3.5 mile hiking trail which weaves and winds through the wilderness. The path is not flat like in other state parks I have been to, it is actually undulating and hilly and has adequate tree cover to protect us from the harsh summer heat.

Hiking Trail in the Eisenhower State Park

The only disappointment here was the really small swimming beach in such a large lake and park. Then the amount of trash that was left over after the long weekend visitors had left. I wish there were a more efficient trash management system in place.

Swimming Beach in Eisenhower State Park on Lake Texoma

Hindu Pushup

Since I came to America my awareness has increased about how the name Hindu and India have been interchanged. Everything good has been attributed to India while everything negative has been associated with Hindu. Ironically practices such as Ayurvedic medicine, Yoga, Mantra chanting have been referred as "Ancient Indian practices" while caste system, curry, etc have been associated with Hinduism.

Recently I came across couple of videos on youtube in which correct references have been used. It seems like lot of foreigners, particularly the westerners have begun to learn at a very slow pace what is right and what is wrong. This video showcases the Hindu Pushup, a very common exercise which involves three yoga asanas or yogic poses of the Surya Namaskar and very effective in strengthening muscles, weight loss and giving the right shape to the body.

I have embedded the video for your reference.

Affordable eyeglasses from Zenni!

Since the time I immigrated to the United States I have come to understand that there are few things in the American way of life that make it financially hard. Home ownership, healthcare and finding adequate employment when you hit middle age.

In this post I am going to talk about healthcare with particular relevance to eye care. Health care services of any kind is expensive in this country. If one doesn't have good insurance coverage, it is nearly impossible to have any access to healthcare. The prohibitive costs make it better to be ill than in debt.

After couple of hundred years of unbridled capitalism in all sectors people are getting wary of these practices and there are entrepreneurs and enterprises which offer solutions.

One such company I know of is Zenni Optical. This is perhaps the only company that offers prescription eyeglasses for as little as $6.95. In this economy and era of rising prices how is it that this company has managed to continue to offer cost effective solutions to people? It has been possible because Zenni doesn't believe in the traditional business model. Their business is based on the internet and hence there is no middle men involved. They spend next to nothing for their advertising and thus there is no overhead.

All this translates to immense benefits to the consumer. That is why people who value time and money get their glasses done by Zenni.

Ray Roberts Lake - Quiet Aqua Forte

Yesterday I visited the oceanic Ray Roberts Lake. Located in North Texas, not too far from where I live is this expansive water body that offers great recreational facilities for those who want to get away from the city and its pollution. It's 30,000 acre water span has enough space, depth and water for everyone to enjoy boating, fishing, swimming, or just watching the vast expanse of water. For those who want to be grounded and wish to wander around trees and rolling hills the area surrounding the lake has been marked off as a state park and is full of tall trees criss-crossed by numerous hiking, biking and walking trails.

Our visit was not a well planned one so we just spent time watching and wading in the water and taking some pictures of the area. Next time around we may be able to take a dip, go kayaking or ride a bicycle around the forests.

Doomsday failure...

May 21st came and went and we are still alive, the world as we know it continues to exist and thrive. The man behind all the frenzy Harold Camping made a pretty sum in the form of donations and continues to state that rapture will happen.

Harold Camping: Doomsday Preacher Explains Failed Rapture Prediction - ABC News

A clear case of history repeating itself. This Christian Pastor had claimed rapture in the late 1990s and when it didn't happen he said the very same thing that it was a "mathematical error" on his part.

The world will come to an end when some lunatic gets hold of the nuclear weapon stockpile. Otherwise we are safe. There is no danger from God to this world, if there is any danger it is from human beings.

Extreme Reactions to Bible Predictions of Doomsday 2011

Some Christians think that the beginning of the end of the world is going to start on May 21, 2011. Yes! if these christian organizations were to be believed there will be a large earthquake two days from now and that will mark the beginning of the end of world.

When faith gets into someone they can go to bizarre levels to propagate it. I read about this man in New York who spent his life savings of $140,000 to advertise this prediction in various parts of the city. He has also written a book titled The Doomsday Code about this destruction of the world.

This is definitely hilarious, the extent to which people take their faiths seriously. Here is a 60 yr old man who spends all his savings advertising this prophesy that doesn't have any scientific basis. I wonder what he is going to do few years down the line when he has to retire. Granted that he will be eligible for health benefits under Medicare and Medicaid that has been paid for by taxpaying citizens like himself.

Life in this country is not easy when one is old and poor. This precisely what this guy will be a few years down the line, if the world doesn't end day after tomorrow :)

Predict your life span with a blood test!

Every life form on this planet will fight to the end with any greater force for existence... i.e. to preserve its life, to thrive, to live longer. Human beings are the smartest of all life forms and have devised ways and means to combat common diseases and live longer.

I remember one Hindi saying on this subject: "Jaan Hai to Jahan Hai" meaning if life is there then the whole world is there. I heard this quote in the film the Mummy: "Live today to fight tomorrow". Life is celebrated and death is feared in almost all cultures across the world.

In this quest there are hoary sciences such as astrology, palmistry, tarot, etc, whose practitioners claim to accurately predict the future. Unfortunately most of them fall short sometime or the other. To this list of paranormal/ occult/ predictive sciences we can add biology/ medicine. A new test devised by scientists in Europe is said to effectively predict how many years one is going to live.

I read about the test online on Washington Post. According to the article the Telomere test, a simple blood test like the can predict the lifespan quite effectively.

Now wouldn't that put a spanner in the works of astrologers who have hitherto held sway over people who have been trying to unravel the mysteries of their future. It would also create a great catastrophe like the author points out if Insurance companies were to come to know about your test results, or even if your employer were to know your test results.

I think this is a great test and should be made accessible to everyone, making the results public could be left to the discretion of the individual.

A Working Summer

For students in the US summer break is not a time to enjoy holidays. Rather everyone does something productive such as taking up a job, volunteering, enrolling for summer classes, traveling to another country, etc. This trend is catching up in upcoming economies such as India but it is not enough to sustain the large population of youth in that country.

Coming back to what I am doing. This is one period of the year when I get unbroken time to work and pick up overtime hours. Overtime pays (1½ times) and when there is opportunity to earn overtime it is the best thing to do. Moreover with summer heat melting the muscle and vaporizing blood it is better to remain indoors in the comfort of the air-conditioning.

I hope I can blog occasionally....

Summer is here :)

It is that time of the year again... 100 degree days and sunshine upto 9.00 pm. It is a good time to go out and enjoy but at the same time the heat is so prohibitive it keeps us indoors most of the day. Anyway this is my finals week and then I will be working lots of hours during the next month... for now it is sitting in front of the computer and studying and during my break I create graphics like the one below.

New Downloadable Font

Needless to say I have worked on creating new fonts some are in progress and some have been complete. Click on the font if you like it and down load it on your computer and use it. If you think it is a really cool font log on to Fontstruct and leave a high-five...

Sewing Machine Parts and Accessories

A major feature of the American lifestyle that is often not understood enough by immigrants is the necessity to be able to do everything. From cleaning the house, to washing the cars and from changing fused bulbs at home to using the sewing machine to alter, fix, embroider clothes. Talking about sewing machines, most people in India don't own one. I am talking about India because I am from there. Most people who own these implements are professional tailors. Those individuals who own one use it to stitch all kinds of clothes, curtains, etc at home.

In the US, for everything that is available in the market, there are an array of accessories to make it look, feel, or work better. Similarly with the sewing machine there are numerous accessories and several industries actually owe their existence to this secondary market. Another secondary market is for sewing machine parts which are a big draw among owners and prospective owners.

I know people who have invested several hundred dollars on sewing machine parts and accessories simply because they enjoy creating new fabric with the machines. There are numerous parts that are consumed by sewing enthusiasts on a regular basis. These parts include bobbin cases foot pedals, footwork kits, sewing machine foot, etc.

During the recent years the convenience of the internet has enabled all sewing enthusiasts to buy lots and lots of parts online. The online businesses are also thriving because they can sell cheaper to the consumer because middlemen are eliminated. The consumer is happy that he/ she can see pictures of the part before ordering and also that there is a money back guarantee on most online purchases. Then there are auction sites where people go scouring for bargains.

Once again I would like to reiterate that the internet may after all be the best source of news, views, and opinions.

Another Brand New Font

I am totally enamored by the website fontstruct which enables me to create new fonts as per my creative abilities. I spend lots of time trying out new styles and designs. Sometimes I succeed in creating a complete font, other times I just have to abandon the project and start a new one. Here is one of the fonts I recently completed. Feel free to download and use it and let me know whether you found it utilitarian or is it not worth using.

Smile & Be happy....

If you’re not using your smile, you’re like a person with a million dollars in the bank and no checkbook.

Adding Glamour to your ride!

It has been couple of days since I posted any blogs. I was busy looking at some spanking new products that would enhance my ride. I had been thinking of going to the car dealership to upgrade some features of my car, but the exorbitant prices they charge discouraged me. Recently I found an online store where one can buy OEM Car Parts for the right price and get it installed at a local garage or if one is handy it can be self accomplished.

Well, naturally I was thrilled by the fact that Auto Parts were so affordable here while at the dealership they cost so much more. For example I wanted to replace the A/c compressor in my Saturn L series vehicle. The dealership had quoted $1,500 including labor for the job. When I questioned the rationale they had said there was a parts cost of $1200 and $300 was for labor. Here on OEM Auto Parts the cost of a brand new OEM compressor is only $495. This is indeed a significant savings.

I now understand how car dealerships make so much money, they simply overprice everything, just because they are bigger corporations. I believe that we can accomplish the same upgrades to our cars at a much lower price if we buy parts here and install it ourselves or get it done at a local mechanic.

Walking/ Hiking Trail

The woods beckon me to walk and explore, and enjoy the bounty of nature. I turn around to see the world around me and realize that there are miles to drive before I can stop the car and get into the trail. For now it is going to be walking along the Wilson Creek Park trail in McKinney, Texas.

Highways in Texas

This is the picture of the Central Expressway in Texas, US. I took this picture while walking under the bridge in one of the rarely seen foot paths. I guess this trail exists because it is part of a walking/ bicycling trail system in McKinney Texas, my new home city. It is interesting to notice the amount of space that is left open in this country. If there was this much space in India I am pretty sure there would be either a few families living here or couple of small stores operating a thriving business selling pan, cigarettes and odds and ends.

Happy Ugadi - Happy New Year!

Wish you all a Happy New Year!.

This new year festival is relevant to me, as I am a Hindu. Moreover this festival has been celebrated as New Year day since the past several thousand years. This day is indeed auspicious and relevant. Back in India we would receive neem flowers and jaggery (brown sugar) from our parents and family symbolizing that the forth coming year will bring both bitter and sweet things for our life and we will accept both equally.

Being in America all these days, festivals and traditions have almost become forgotten and irrelevant. I wonder if all Hindus in America feel the same way????

India Wins the Cricket World Cup 2011

After several years of anticipation, and heart breaks the Indian cricket team has finally put in a great performance and won the ultimate trophy.

I am not a cricket aficionado, but most people from and in India are cricket fans... no cricket lovers... no cricket devotees. These people would skip work, school, or other important events in life to watch a game on the idiot box (TV). The fact that our team was perpetually disappointing its fans, particularly the Indian people who give them so much love, adoration and respect is what I never liked.

Finally the day has arrived when Indian team has made the Indian people happy... jubilant... overjoyed. I hope their winning spree continues for another series.

Wilson Creek Trail & Park, McKinney

A sole tree stands as silent witness to the changing weather in McKinney, Texas. Children play, adolescents come here to court their romantic partners, adults and seniors throng to get some exercise. The needs of different sections of the population are different but the park and its components including this tree fulfill all the diverse needs successfully. Some lessons we as a society need to learn, to live cooperatively, rather than competitively. Lot more can be achieved this way than the present way.

TV Stand Enhances Home Aesthetics...

A TV without a stand is like a building without foundation. The necessity of a stand for your TV is as important as a building needing a foundation. I have seen in several of my friends homes the TVs are inconveniently placed on a table or precariously perched on a bench or stool or something like that.

The most common argument that I have heard against tv stands is that they are too bulky and occupy too much space. Well I don't buy that, not all TV stands are bulky, there are those that are sleek and consume very little space. For example corner tv stands take so little space and conveniently fit into any corner of your living, dining, entertainment room. There will be no space lost after installing the TV stand in the corner because the corner was anyway not used.

TV stands apart from being a utilitarian products that help showcase your TV and store CD, DVD and VHS conveniently and also enhance the beauty of your home. After much persuasion my friend bought one of the black tv stands online and boy now his living room seems to have a charm of its own. The stand shows off his TV in much better light and it is looking simply awesome. The same home, same TV and same furniture, it all looks a lot more elegant now thanks to the black TV stand.

TV stands are available in pretty much every conceivable material and style that one would want. Aluminum, wood, glass, steel, hard plastic, etc. All you need to do is to check out what suits your taste, style and budget and order it.

No respect for animals!

I have lived in the US during the past 4 years and one thing I have noticed is that being a vegetarian is quite a challenge in this country. When I was in India it was common saying "there is no value for human life in India", here it is the opposite, "there is absolute disregard for anything that is not human." This became evident during a conversation I had with someone I met. We were talking about the depleting Tiger population and he commented that the Sunderbans in India would be a good place to hunt. I replied saying that the tigers are a highly protected species in India and that there are only about 1,500 left in the wild. Pat came the reply: "There is only one me!". What I infer from this statement is that an individual is more important than everything else in this country.

Another pet peeve I have about this country is the way they price food products. A lb (454 gm) of tomatoes is around $1.99-3.99 while the cost of a lb of beef is about $1.41-2.51. Isn't that amazing? A living animal is valued far less than a plant, it would probably take many lbs of tomato plants to feed one meal to a cow. While a gallon of water is more than enough to feed several tomato plants. Hence whichever restaurant one visits, it is very difficult to get a decent vegetarian meal.

Bedroom Set - Important Facet of Your Home

After moving to the United States I am getting exposed to stylish living. Here everyone wants to have everything and as such the economy is doing so well. I have decided to join the rat race and among my first acquisitions will be bedroom sets for all the rooms at home. These sets make the room look spacious, elegant and luxurious and most importantly they make life easy.

Summer is almost here...

If there is something I particularly don't like about Texas, it is the 100 degree summer days. The days are getting warmer and more sunny showing a clear sign of oncoming summer. It's going to be 90 on Saturday and I am definitely not pleased. I'd rather have an ice day with sub zero temperature than a 100 degree sultry afternoon. There is precious little anyone can do about these super hot days but complain, fret and live on. That is precisely what I am going to do also. Just go on with life... the only difference being I'd be going around in thinner clothes and will be visiting the park more often to bicycle, walk and run hopefully.

Whining and Complaining is pretty bad!

I heard a famous radio anchor say this on air and was pretty struck by this message. I had thought about it before but coming from this personality it sank into my psyche deep and firm. The quote below is a modified version of what I heard, this is more suited to my situation in life.

I will not complain about things going wrong in my life because 80% of the people don't care, 5% really care but can't do anything about it and the remaining 10% are actually happy that I am having these problems

.

Holi The Festival of Colors

Holi the Hindu festival of colors is just round the corner. This year it is going to be celebrated on March 20, 2011. One of the unique features of this festival is the concept of smearing our family and friends with colors. Earlier the coloring was a predominantly North Indian concept but now it is a national festival celebrated the same way. This festival depicts the dawn of spring when new leaves spring up in plants, and there is a riot of color in the outdoors.

There are numerous legend associations to Holi but personally for me it signifies the vibrancy of Hindu heritage and culture that is unique and quite superior. A religious tradition that accepts diverse schools of thoughts and has an answer to pretty much every spiritual and philosophical question.

McKinney Town Lake

I revisited McKinney Town Lake again today and took a walk along the meandering trail that follows the lake shores. The numerous birds in the lake are highly used to people and await for feeders to come and give them goodies. Some of the birds are so used to people capturing pictures of them they even pose like the one in the picture here. Overall it is a great place to visit and wander around both for recreation and exercise.

Meditation Center amidst woods in McKinney

Experiencing Nature in McKinney, Texas

I had not had the opportunity to explore the community, and its attractions since moving to McKinney couple of months ago. Today after a stressful day at school I decided to take a break and go out in the evening to spend some time outdoors. I went to the Town Lake recreation area located right beside the Central Expressway. There is a short nature trail through a wooded patch that stretches along the gurgling Wilson Creek and a fairly wide paved bike, walk trail that meanders around the lake.

I went to walk the Nature Trail first through the trees treading on the soft soil. The only differences this trail has with trails in India that I miss so much is its flat terrain and the wooden decks/ bridges when we cross creeks. This trail passes through a wooded patch with tall trees. The trees must be at least several decades old because each one of them are at least 50 ft tall.

Nature has always had a soothing effect on me and when I am amidst nature I feel so humbled. We human beings have created so many things out of the raw material that nature provides to us. Plain water, mud, and sunlight is all it takes to enable plants to provide fantastically tasty food for our consumption. Today as I walked through the tall trees bathed in the soft evening sunlight I felt very minuscule. Whatever ego I had melted away and for the next few minutes that I was traversing the trail I felt as if all my worries and problems were nothing compared to what obstacles the trees, plants, birds and other beings had to endure just to live.

I came out of the nature trail rejuvenated and feeling fresh to take on the world today and tomorrow, when I go back to working from 7am to 7pm and driving an hour to work and back. Indeed nature has so many lessons to offer if only one were to pause and learn....

Smart, Business Savvy, But Unaware or Callous???

I continue to blog about the gross injustice the western world is inflicting on easterners... particularly people from India. First when people in the US or Europe say "Asian" or "Asia" they mean "China". This is a recent phenomenon since the west began to access cheap goods produced by slave labor in China.

What I am blogging today is about a greater and more historical injustice that continues to go unnoticed in the greater consciousness of the entire Western world and almost everyone in the Eastern world also. This is the identity mistake that has endured since the past 500 years and has not been corrected despite the arrival of the internet that has ushered in the information age and created knowledge explosion.

Yes I am talking about the identity label of "Indian" being hijacked by people of "Native American" tribes. Today I listened to a radio program titled "Smiling Indians" on NPR. Quite predictably this program spoke about the Native Americans or the original inhabitants of continental America, most of whom were massacred by the European settlers when they started colonizing this continent.

Well I understand that Christopher Columbus was totally mistaken when he landed here and discovered the new world for Europeans to exploit and conquer. But isn't it high time for the world to recognize that these people are not "Indians" but are whatever nations they profess to belong to.

I am amazed by the fact that these "Native Americans" are also not standing up to claim their true national/ tribal identity and are piggybacking on the "Indian" identity label. How much longer will they remain oblivious of their own roots and compromise their ethnic identity for the collective label often used in a derogatory sense: "Indian".

I am totally shocked that the fairly influential and large Indian diaspora living in the US since the past several decades have quietly accepted the title of "East Indians" and allowed their true identity to be pegged on to the Tribals of America. I wonder when these people: Indians and Native Americans will get educated and start labeling themselves correctly.

I hope this happens in my lifetime.... or is it too much to hope for???

Homelessness, a problem in America also...

I listened to this story on NPR this morning while driving to school. According to the reporter there are over 650,000 homeless people in the US. That is almost 0.2% of the total population. My first reaction was that of shock and surprise. How can there be homeless people in the world’s richest nation? What is going on with this country which controls the world's economy; dictates who has the right to have weapons and who doesn't; provides billions of $s of aid to poor nations across the world; hands out arms and weapons to militias in third world nations to create the likes of Taliban and Al-Qaeda?

Housing these people wouldn't take even a fraction of the money that is being spent on these programs. It is apparent that most of these homeless people are those who refuse to conform to the rules of the capitalist economy and materialistic society of America. I don't know whether these people are out there on the street abusing drugs, and other illicit substances out of their own will or have been forced out of their homes by unscrupulous mortgage and loan brokers.

Anyway bottom line, if America doesn't pull its act together and get these people off the streets there will be a big problem pretty soon in the future.

Hindu Pride.... Abysmally low....

Throughout my short life I have come across people of many religions. What makes everyone different from people of Hindu faith is the pride of followers or lack thereof. I have come across very few Hindus who are proud of their religious identity... more so if they are from India or those born in the United States. This is ironical because everything that has come from Hinduism is trendy, cool and sought after in the United States. Even in the so-called Bible belt of US Yoga is popular, meditation is trendy, Kirtan, chanting of Sanskrit mantras are popular.

When it comes to identifying oneself as a Hindu, there is a huge gap. People from India would rather identify themselves by their regional, linguistic, national, or caste identity rather than their larger religious identity. This is perhaps why even Europeans who have gotten attracted to Hinduism's philosophy are hesitant to say they are Hindus but say they like "Eastern Philosophies" better than "Western ideologies".

I wonder when Hindus will start taking pride in their religious identity?

A thin font created by me...

Font creation is a great way to play with your design sense. It is not about one letter but about the entire alphabet and related punctuation marks. It is not good enough to have a great sense of design to create a font, but one needs to have forethought, and a sense of organization to be able to conceive the entire alphabet and create the font.
I will continue to work on more fonts and share them right here on my blog.

Font Creations....

I tried a hand at font construction again and here is another examples of what I conceived to be complete fonts with 98 characters including numbers, punctuations and special ascii characters. If you wish to download the font and use it on your computer go ahead and enjoy... just make sure you give me your feedback...

One Week Later.....

In the US people always say one thing: "Life Happens". This is to explain sudden and unexpected happenings which change the course of people's lives. Well nothing of that sort has happened in the past week in my life. But then I use this term to explain why I have not been doing things that I routinely do... like blogging.

School and work have been taking up so much of my time that I haven't spent any time on the internet for a while. Now today I have this opportunity window and hence here I am. Will be back in a bit to post more..

Ensure Your Unborn Child's Health

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of CryoCell International. All opinions are 100% mine.