Dasara/ Dusshera is here...

The festival of dolls or Dasara/ Dusshera has started since couple of days. The festivities are taking place in some homes in India who still remain strong in roots and have not sold out to the modernization that has swept the Subcontinent since the opening up of markets in 1991. There are a wide array of ways people celebrate this 10 day festival which culminates in the Vijaya Dashami, the day when Goddess Durga vanquished Mahishasura, the evil demon who was terrorizing the people of the world.

When I was a kid growing up in un-liberalized India, these 10 days were marked by festivities at home. Dolls of all kinds would be kept on display and kids from neighborhood would visit homes to look at the dolls and enjoy some snacks. But now kids are busy with their television programs, computers, video games, and last but not the least studies, so there is no time for visiting neighbors. Parents are busy working in their jobs trying to achieve their performance targets and getting promotions so they don't seem to have any time for festivals and ceremonies.

The one way everyone definitely celebrates this major festival in India is by sending greeting cards, and gifts to their loved ones. This is spurred on by large corporations that have stepped up and introduced special products for this season and I guess now it is the businesses that will make sure that people don't forget the festival seasons.

Fall Season Brings Cheer!!!

It is usually said that spring season brings cheer with new sprouts, blossoms and leaves, but for someone living in Dallas area the only periods to cheer are the transition times between summer and fall and winter and spring. Peak summer from May to September is searing hot and not conducive for outdoor activities during the day and sun sets at 9 pm in the night. Winter is the other extreme it is too cold to get out of the house. So that leaves us the four months that are the transition times between these extremes. Which is right now... great weather for outdoor activities and fun. All sports leagues are full now and every park, trail, and outdoor space will be packed with people trying to get their share of outdoor life.

Unfortunately for people like me students who are full time in school and have a weekend job, there is no respite. Couple of years down the road maybe we will get some time off during these pleasant period, but for now it is books, labs, classes and of course work.

Becoming Callous and totally insulated....

I don't know whether it is the busy schedule of fulltime school and work and life in general or whether it is me. Of late, since earlier this year I have noticed that I have been forgetting about everything that used to matter to me before. Since I returned from India I have pretty much forgotten every major national event that relates to India. I remember these things only after they happen and seems like I am slowly but surely losing my intimate contact with everything Indian. I forgot Ganesha Festival, Raksha Bandhan, Upakarma, and even Janmashtami. Two days ago it was the birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi aka Mahatma, the father of our nation and I am remembering this day today. I wonder in a few years if I would become one of the hundreds of thousands of Indians who settle down in America and promptly forget their roots. It would be ironical if it were to ever come to that.

Heartening News from India

I have been following the Ayodhya dispute since it hit the national headlines in the 1980s. It is good to see some sort of a verdict from the courts on the issue now, finally. The mob had its say and did what it had to do, that was an angry, passionate, mob and the repercussions were not good for the entire country. But now after several years people have moved on, and there are other priorities in front of the nation's youth now. This is precisely the reason the courts have been able to deliver a reasonably fair judgment.

I am pretty sure the secular intelligentsia, media celebrities, and politicians are highly disappointed with the judgment. I am pretty sure now people of India are aware of the games the secular people play. That is why there has been no riots and trouble after the judgment.

Personally speaking I am happy with the judgment. The courts have responded to the sentiments of the hither-to beaten down majority of India. They have upheld the sanctity of a holy space for Hindus even while showing token respect (or appeasement) to the Muslim Invader and his descendents who ruled India for several centuries. I hope this will continue and Hindus will gain more respect not only in India but across the world.

Customer service promises

The US is a highly capitalistic economy. Businesses in every sector have to compete for every dollar they earn. The customer is spoilt with choice and corporations try everything possible to lure them into the door.

I noticed this hoarding enroute to school and truly I'm wonderstruck by this kind of promises made by a hospital. On one side hospitals are trying to cut staff and increase profits and on the other they want to promise the moon to the consumer. This kind of advertising even before the healthcare facility has been built.

I wonder tomorrow when the hospital is complete how they will live upto this promise.

Promotional Calendars - Business Enhancement Tools

Businesses need to be constantly present in front of their customers, and prospects. One of the best ways to achieve this is to be part of something that the consumer will look at several times in a day or at least once every day. The best place to be is in the calendar, everyone looks at his/ her calendar to plan their days, weeks, and months ahead.

It is easy to be part of the calendar, just get your business to make promotional calendars well before the new year starts and distribute it among your established clientele and prospects. Your promotion starts from there, especially if you are the first person to give the calendar or if your promotional calendar looks attractive and has many colorful pictures, meaningful quotes or things like that.

Small businesses tend to think that creating promotional calendars is an expensive affair and they would rather not do it. I would say that the money invested in promotional items such as calendars will yield benefits at a much higher rate than any other forms of advertising. In this case you are aware of who has the calendars and you can be sure that they remember you every time they look up some date.

Back to regular blogging... I hope

My blogging has been sporadic and irregular during the past couple of months. Work, school, and other pressures have kept me away from posting new and interesting incidents, pictures, news items and general musings and thoughts here.

Anyway I think I am kinda reaching an equilibrium with my studies and work and arriving at a balance. Once this is achieved seamlessly I can continue blogging as before and posting stuff that would be interesting for people who visit here.

Hosting Your Website With a Reseller!!!

Website design, development, hosting, and search engine optimization have all become the keywords of a new breed of entrepreneurs who are trying to cash in on the viability of internet as a platform for doing business. While it is largely true that it is quite impossible for a business to succeed without a strong online presence, entrepreneurs would be better served if they are careful about where they are hosting their websites.

There are several models of website hosting service providers. There is the do-it-yourself model where the service providers just give you a username and password and you do the rest. Then there is the full service model where the service provider will register your domain, design the website and host it on his server. Often these full service models are operated by entrepreneurs who take advantage of reseller hosting.

While reseller hosting doesn't change the way you operate your business online or offline, it does matter in a variety of different ways. For example, how much of live time does your service provider offer. How quickly will their servers come back up if it goes down? How much bandwidth do they offer? How well optimized is the server for the web? The best way to decide which service provider is best suited for your need is to read user reviews and ratings. The greater number of positive reviews and five star ratings a service provider has the better it is for you.

Welcoming Visitors to Texas

This is the first tourist information center one finds while entering Texas from Mexico through the Laredo border. The building is pretty attractive with nice water features and open spaces within its premises. Ample parking enables people to park and take a breather before entering the busy freeway.

10 non-blogging days

It has been long since I blogged or even opened up this platform. School, and work have been quite hectic and I am still not update with school. It has been quite eventful so I couldn't be manage the time to blog. How did I manage the time now? Well this is the time when I am half asleep just awake from deep slumber and getting ready to go to school. So I thought I'd use this time effectively and post a short note here.

What has been happening over here? Well nothing much except that my rollerblading skills have improved thanks to the weekly skate meet up with some great people of Pegasus Flyers, Dallas. That has been the only physical activity I have indulged in. Everything else I do is pretty much done sitting on my backside. I hope to get more activity done, let us see if I can accomplish it....

Earn a teaching degree from a renowned university from the comforts of your home!

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

For people who have a job it is often impossible to attend regular college and earn a degree. Especially when a higher degree is essential for career advancement, it becomes highly challenging for individuals to decide on the future course of action. Thanks to the proliferation of high speed internet there is the possibility of earning most of the degrees online.

A case in point is the Masters in Teaching degree offered by the USC Rossier School of Education’s MAT@USC. The unique program provides aspiring teachers an opportunity to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from an elite research university without having to leave their present jobs or alter their schedules. According to the program information, classes are held online and are highly interactive. The program is an accelerated one which combines some field-based experiences and can be completed in as little as 12 months.

The best part of the program is its unique and fantastic tuition reimbursement program. Along with becoming an integral member of the elite USC Trojan family, students have the opportunity to get complete tuition reimbursement. Still unsure whether this program works for you? Just visit the MAT@USC Student blog and hear about the experiences of actual students who are in or have completed the program.

If you haven't already heard about USC, then here is a small intro. The school has been around over 100 years and has been educating teachers since its inception. USC has been known as a research institution and its School of Education has been ranked #22 in the United States, and #9 among all private universities by US News and World Report.

Now do you want any more information. If you do then just visit their website.

Some Blackberry Images

I have always been a big fan of small handy devices and integrated gadgets. If one device can incorporate everything that I'd need that is what I'd buy. Well the kind of gadget I have always dreamed of having is yet to be manufactured, but for now I am content using the Blackberry with internet connection. This phone has a pretty good camera which is obvious when you look at the images below. I shot these pictures at the Frontier Flight Museum sited alongside the Love Field Airport in Dallas. I liked the venue and there are somethings that I really feel that should be incorporated by all nations in the world to enhance their revenues and also provide a learning, fun locale for kids and elders alike.

Americans love to show off their nationalism and patriotic fervor. They put up their national flag, state flag, quotes like "God Bless America" etc pretty much everywhere. This kind of love for their country and pride in national symbols is very healthy and should be inculcated right from infancy in every nation across the world.





An example how exhibits are arranged in such a way that visitors learn about the actual aircraft and how they fly. Then there are these bouncy fun stuff which children would love to get into and play. These things make the museum experience memorable and children would look forward to visiting again and again.

The above image is an example how private businesses take advantage of the museum to promote their brands and support the local community. The museum runs mainly on grants and sponsorships like these and the businesses gain visibility and recall value in the minds of children who will grow up to become adults and employees, associates or customers of these businesses. This kind of attitude should be developed in the minds of Indian businessmen who are only keen on hoarding money for their dynasty and don't think of giving to the community.

Fantastic Mobile Phone Service gets even better!!!

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

Mobile phone market in the US is getting more and more competitive. Consumers are getting spoilt by service providers with an array of services that is getting better every day. The latest offering comes from Boost Mobile. When I looked up the simplicity of having a mobile phone with Boost, I was impressed. There are pay as you go mobile phone plans that start from as little as 10 cents a minute/ talk and 10 cents a text, or you can get everything unlimited (including web) for just $50 a month. If you want a fancy handset like the Blackberry then it costs a mere $10 more per month.

I was particularly fascinated by Boost Mobile's flexible method of adding money to your account. The concept known as Reboost enables you to add funds either online, in-person or over phone. If you want to know more about how to Re-Boost your account just visit their website. You can also set up automatic payments from your credit/ debit card.

Mobile phones have become more than talking instruments. People use them to check their online profiles, facebook, twitter, email, text, etc. The possibilities are endless, but unlike many popular mobile phone service providers Boost Mobile enables affordable access to these services. I get to update my twitter account on the move at no extra data cost, all I have to pay is one small monthly payment.

There is no dearth of phones at Boost Mobile, almost all the popular models are available on easy payment options. Even the extremely popular Blackberry models are available on Boost Mobile.

Now if you were wondering about high cellphone bills, you can forget about it with Boost Mobile.

The American Way: Lose Weight or Lose Job!

The single greatest obsession of almost everyone in the 300-million strong population of USA is looks, figure and youth. It is proved every four years when the presidential elections takes place, it is almost every time that the better looking candidate wins. Coming to the subject of this blog, I saw this news video on MSNBC about a waitress at Hooters, she became slightly heavier than the company's diktats and was asked to shape up or leave. That is America for you...

I wish they would bring about a similar set of rules in every profession.

Krishna Janmashtami Celebrations!

When I was back home in India living with parents, surrounded by hundreds of second and third cousins we would celebrate loads of festivals. Sometimes I would even joke with my mom that it seems like for a devout Hindu everyday is a unique festival. Mom would immediately reply "Yes, the gift of life and that too in the Karma Bhoomi, i.e., Bharat aka India is indeed cause enough to celebrate every day we live there." Perhaps that is why most Hindus in America including me are hardly aware of the exact dates of the many festivals that we would have celebrated if we were in our homeland. The festivals I have missed even remembering the dates in the past month include, Varamaha Lakshmi pooja, Upakarma, Raksha Bandhan, etc. It is the same story every year, when I realize I have missed a festival, I make a mental note and tell myself that I should not forget it the following year. But as it is said History Repeats.

This year luckily I have blindly signed up to be on the mailing list of several Hindu religious and Secular social organizations formed by people from India. Recently I got a mail from the Jagadguru Kripalu Yog about the Krishna Janmashtami celebrations they are organizing in Plano, TX for the benefit of all Hindus in the area. The celebrations are being held on August 29, 2010 (couple days before the actual festival because of weekend) at the Precious Beginning Montessori School, on Alma road in Plano, TX.

This is the day when Lord Krishna the most recent incarnation of the supreme Hindu god Vishnu. Lord Krishna is a highly revered by over a billion Hindus across the world. There are numerous western devotees of Lord Krishna who are members of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCon).

I will be working during the weekend else I would definitely go and participate in the event. Last year we had been to Houston to participate in the grand celebrations and brought back several great memories and enthusiasm. This year I guess I have to contend with working... For a few dollars more

Weekend Getaways are vital to well being!

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

One of the vital necessities for everyone in order to lead a good life is recreation and leisure. This can be achieved either through hobbies, travel, recreational sports and other activities. Personally speaking I feel recreational travel is the most important necessity. Though the economic downturn of the past two years has made it a little tougher to take as many breaks, I have still been able to manage few weekend getaways and one long holiday.

Talking about weekend getaways, I recently came across this huge promotion by Hampton Hotel, they are giving away a free weekend stay everyday. Yes, you have the opportunity to win a totally free weekend stay at any Hampton hotel. They are offering a fantastic offer titled: Hampton Chain of Friends Sweepstakes under which entrants have a unique chance to win a free weekend stay at any Hampton hotel in the country.

Enter the contest and get your own chance to win and take a break with your friends this fall and have a good time bonding and building your team of well wishers. Weekend getaways are short, intense and highly relaxing and this is a great time to bond with people who are going to be part of yoru life for a long long time. This king of opportunity doesn't last long go for it now.

Milky white inflorescence - a visual delight

Here are two snapshots of a shrub in full bloom. I captured the images around White Rock Lake area in Dallas. Even in the early morning that I was there the weather was quite muggy and hot. During the day it becomes searing hot but even in this hostile conditions these wild flowers thrive. Once again nature proves that there can be beauty and lively glory amidst hostility.

Get affordable eye glasses at Zenni

In America everything related to health care is either atrociously expensive or available to a select few. This was the case with eyeglasses till Zenni Optical came along with their largest online showroom. One of the first things that Zenni revolutionized in the eyeglasses market is the pricing. By eliminating the middlemen Zenni began to offer affordable and good quality eyeglasses.

Their specialty area includes prescription eyeglasses. Many opticians check your eyes and tell you that you need corrective glasses but they advise you against ordering online. That is because they have their interests in mind and not yours, if you order at their preferred retailer than they will get the benefit of referrals. Now by ordering online you not only save money but also get the impeccable ZenniOptical quality.

It is not surprising that ZenniOptical has become the No. 1 online eyeglasses store. This has been possible because of their attention to detail and providing amazing quality in all the eyeglasses they make for their millions of clients.

Opticians are now trying to forcible prevent you from ordering online at Zenni by not providing you with your PD or Pupillary Distance. This is the distance between the pupils of your eyes, center to center, in mm. This is a vital bit of information needed by eyeglasses manufacturers to make the right glasses. By withholding this information opticians are trying to divert business away from online to their preferred stores.

I don't think this trend will last long because in the long run they will lose customers and earn bad reputation. While Zenni will become more popular as provider of high-quality eyeglasses at affordable prices.

Glorious Independence Day

Today my compatriots back home are celebrating my homeland's Independence day. A day when we emerged out of 1200 years of oppression, treachery, cruel exploitation of foreigners. I have been out of the country on this day since the past three years... here is hoping that next year I will be home to celebrate independence day. Of course Indians abroad celebrate this event more as a festival rather than remembering the sacrifices our founding fathers and mothers have made for our nation's independence.

Bharath Mata Ki Jai.

Earn a Masters Degree in Teaching Online

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

One of the most important aspects of modern life is a need for acquiring new skills and certifications. It is not possible for everyone to go back to school and acquire new degrees. Thankfully new technologies have enabled prospective students to learn online without having to step out of their home/ office. The biggest benefit of studying online in my opinion is flexibility. One doesn't have to go to school at a specific time to attend classes, it is possible to go through the lectures at your leisure.

I recently came across the program information of the prestigious USC Rossier School of Education. They are currently a Masters of Arts degree in teaching for those who are teachers and aspiring educators. The USC is a well renowned research university and certification from this school is recognized across the country.

Though online the program is highly interactive and combines a wide array of field-based experiences of students. The program is designed in such a way that you complete a Masters degree in just 12 months while most regular programs take nearly 2 years to complete. By studying at the USC you will become an integral part of the elite USC TRojan family.

The best motivator perhaps is their amazing tuition reimbursement and scholarship program. You can more information at MAT@USC Student blog where the insights of current and past students are detailed.