Hats Off to Obama

His Charisma made him a President today.

It is indeed a historic moment for all of America. Very first African American to win the presidency. Isn't it amazing? Ravi and I were sititng infront of the TV the whole night to see the updates and could not be much happier than this.

I never paid attention to any political news before, but somehow was following this presidential campaign and when the D-day was coming near, I got more into it and I am very excited today.

Somehow somewhere change was needed and Obama is the change America is looking for. He surpassed all hurdles and crossed all racial barriers and got a name for himself. His name is now etched in history and he will be remembered forever. He has become the role model not just for African Americans but to all those others who think that they are low.

A great day in history!!

All the luck Obama!! for the new endeavor.

Aamir Khan's Blog

Do you know Aamir Khan has started blogging on movies? I was trying to post this from long but atlast doing it now. Enjoy!

http://aamirkhan.com

Celebrating You MOM!

For all that you are....
For all that you mean....
For all that you have done....
to bless and inspire the lives of others,

You are wished a day filled with all the good things!

Happy Mother's Day!

Source: Hallmark

VT Students: May they rest in peace

My heart goes out to those who died in the brutal killings. My friends at this university are still working on their PhDs and were locked down in their labs and were hungry.

My husband did his Master's in this university and it is such a calm and peaceful university town that nobdy would have guessed this happening. It is heavy on the heart to read or watch news on CNN on this issue.

School Days

This was forwarded to me by my friend Ravi A recently and it really reminded me of my school days.

Most of you might have seen this already but I just couldn't help laughing on the expansion and on an infinite answer.

Happy Birthday Naveen!!

Your Birthday

is a celebration of
the special bond we share,
sending you my sweet wishes to say...

Hope your day is as wonderful
as you are!

Happy Birthday

Happy Ugadi

After all the confusion and controversies on when to celebrate Ugadi because of Solar Eclipse, we have decided to celebrate the festival today. Our SV temple pandits also recommended the same.

Ravi and I wish our family, friends and visitors of this site a very Happy Ugadi & Gudipadwa!

My mandir at home

I got up at 5.30 am today and made some tamarind pulihora, chana dal payasam and Ugadi pachadi.

Chana Dal Payasam, Pulihora, Ugadi Pachadi

Black and Red Art Piece

I made this one with Black and Red velvet paper. I searched for this kind of paper everywhere, online, stores like Michaels, A.C Moore, Ben Franklin crafts but nobody even knew about this paper. Back in India, I used to make a lot of designs for walls and greeting cards for friends with this paper. This paper is so versatile that you can make anything out of it. But, unfortunately it is not available in the US. I had to ask my mom to bring all colors avaialable in India for me when she came to visit me. The one I have at home in India is a similar one but the colors I used were yellow and maroon and I added two peacocks on the two sides. I made a simple one for me.

You can make this too in just 2 or 3 hours. All you need is a black and red velvet paper. Cut Red velvet into mini circles, gel them as you wish and put a jewel in the center. I bought these jewels from Michaels, these are called acrylic jewels.

Weekend News...

Watched Madhumasam on Friday. It is an OK film. The reviews are here

Working today (being a Sunday) for the release.

Happy Holi

Happy Holi to all of you with rainbow colors around you!

Shivarathri

A festival of Lord Shiva is celebrated all over India. Many people fast on this day and eat only fruits in the evening. And at my place in India, we used to wait for the evening as we would get to eat a wide variety of fruits. I especially waited to eat my favorite Water Melon. My mom used to finish the puja early so that we could break the fast at the dusk. We break the fast with a Date and Bellam/gur water. And after singing few bhajans, we all would sit together to eat the fruits. We all kids used to gather in our colony and would play some games all through the night, while Mothers used to prepare food to eat for the next day. You again break the fast in the morning with rice, dal, some fried bajjis, puris and halwa etc...That used to be a feast to remember with all festive food.

But, in US, that festive spirit is not seen much as there are not many people who observe the fast. In fact, Ravi started fasting with me to give me company; he actually started fasting even before we got married J to make me happy! We fast and go to the temple in the evening and get up early the next day and cook whatever we can, eat and get ready to go to work. I wish it comes on a weekend every year so that you would enjoy this festival more.

We sing Lingashtakam as one of the special songs for this day. Here are the lyrics for the song. I searched the lyrics on the web for long and finally found at Chennai Online.

Text One
brahma muraari suraarchita lingam

nirmala bhashita shobhita lingam

janmaja dukha vinaashaka lingam

tat pranamaami sadaa shiva lingam

I bow before that Sada Shiva Linga, which is adored by Brahma, Vishnu and other Gods, which is praised by pure and holy speeches and which destroys the cycle of births and deaths.

Text Two
devamuni pravaraarchita lingam

kaamadaham karunaakara lingam

raavana darpa vinaashaka lingam

tat pranamaami sada shiva lingam

I bow before that Sada Shiva Linga, which is the destroyer of desires, which the Devas and the sages worship, which is infinitely compassionate and which subdued the pride of Raavana.

Text Three
sarva sugandha sulepitha lingam

buddhi vivardhana kaarana lingam

siddha suraasura vanditha lingam

tat pranamaami sadaa shiva lingam

I bow before that Sada Shiva Linga, which is lavishly smeared with variegated perfumes and scents, which elevates the power of thought and enkindles the light of discrimination, and before which the Siddhas and Suras and Asuras prostrate.

Text Four
kanaka mahaamani bhushitha lingam

phanipathi veshtitha shobhitha lingam

daksha suyajna vinaashaka lingam

tat pranamaami sadaa shiva lingam

I bow before that Sada Shiva Linga, the destroyer of Dakshas sacrifice, which is decorated with various ornaments, studded with different gems and rubies and which glows with the garland of the serpent Lord coiled around it.

Text Five
kumkuma chandana lepitha lingam

pankaja haara sushobhitha lingam

sanchitha paapa vinaashaka lingam

tat pranamaami sadaa shiva lingam

I bow before that Sada Shiva Linga, which is smeared with saffron and sandal paste, which is decorated with lotus garlands and which wipes out all accumulated sins.

Text Six
devaganaarchitha sevitha lingam

bhaavair bhakti bhirevacha lingam

dinakara koti prabhakara lingam

tat pranamaami sadaa shiva lingam

I bow before that Sada Shiva Linga which is worshipped by the multitude of Gods with genuine thoughts full of faith and devotion and whose splendor is like that of a million suns.

Text Seven
ashta dalopari veshtitha lingam

sarva samudbhava kaarana lingam

ashta daridra vinaashaka lingam

tat pranamaami sadaa shiva lingam

I bow before that Sada Shiva Linga, destroyer of all poverty and misery in its eight aspects, which is the cause of all creation and which stands on the eight petalled Lotus.

Text Eight
suraguru suravara pujitha lingam

suravana pushpa sadaarchitha lingam

paraatparam paramatmaka lingam

tat pranamaami sadaa shiva lingam

I bow before that Sada Shiva Linga which is the Transcendent Being and the Supreme Self, worshipped by all Suras and their preceptor (Brhaspathi), with innumerable flowers from the celestial gardens.

Text Nine
lingashtakamidam punyam

ya:pathaet sivasannidau

sivalokamavapnoti sivena saha modatae

Whoever recites these eight slokas, in praise of the Shivalinga with the presence of Lord Shiva, attains that Supreme abode of Shiva and enjoys everlasting bliss with Him.

Source: Indiadivine.org

Congratulations on your Wedding!!!

Sree and Sri,

Wishing you a lifetime full of happy years!!

Birthday Menu & Decorations

Ravi's birthday celebrations went on a grand scale. This was all done in last minute. We didn't want to celebrate this time at home and thought of going out for dinner but my brother insisted that we invite everyone home and I had just one day to make the preparations. I didn't have anything in the refrigerator and since Ravi likes sweets, I started making them and Ravi and Naveen got the groceries for me. I was cooking almost all day y'day.


The menu was:

Drinks:
Mango Punch

Appetizers:
7 layer dip
Corn soup

Entrees:
Methi Matar Malai
Palak Paneer
Naan
Rumali Roti
Tri-colored Rice

Desserts:
Badam Halwa
Double ka mitta
Chandrakantha


I could not take individual pictures of the dishes, but everything is on the table below. I plan to make them again sometime and link them all to this blog.

I made some decoration on the coffee table just to make it look extra special.

Same here, I had some fresh flowers at home and I arranged them all through the living and dining rooms. I could not take pictures of other decorations!! I also lighted candles in all the rooms and the smell made us so calm and peaceful inspite of all the tiredness and noise around.

Happy Birthday RAVI!

Many Many Happy Returns of the Day!!!