Cheers.....Celebrate...Cheesecake.....

I am in Philadelphia this week on business. Now, back in the hotel I am watching the rain and reminiscing about the events of the past few weeks.

First, three cheers to Nashae, Khang, and Makayla for winning the speech contest organzied by It's Time on March 22nd.  I wish I was there too.  But as usual "If it is Monday it must be traveling"! Hats off to you Zalenda and the team for the efforts and for bringing the best out of these kids.

On March 29th,  I was thrilled by the news that archealogists have unearthed a pink granite doorway in Luxor, Egypt.  They consider this as the "Doorway to afterlife", perhaps a false door or one of many that were hidden in the tombs. Guess what.... it is from the tomb of the chief minister of my favorite Queen Hapshetsut!  Apparently this door was resued by the Romans  in one of their structures in Luxor.  When I visited the Valley of the Queens, somehow Queen Hapshetsut has captivated me. May be because of the compelling story of her power and her will to rise above the patriarchal monarchy and the priests. Perhaps because she was a woman who showed mettle and prowess. Whatever, it is really great to know that the World was not all that dark 4000 years ago!  Today, there she is once again revealing a pinch of the secret of that ancient civilization and making news.

Queen Hapshetsut's temple

Well it is almost 10.00pm. A hard day's work, a light hearted writing, and feeling great about the children who participated in the speech contest. Now it is time to celebrate all these wonderful events with the Newyork Style Cheese cake with strawberry topping!

Water...Water...Everywhere...

Clean drinking water has become a commodity, a consumer product, and a million dollar industry.  The ground water and the natural springs are being harvested to create the artificial clean water. Rivers are polluted with industrial waste and garbage.  Ocean liners and rigs pollute the oceans and endanger the marine species.

UN has declared March 22nd as the International Water day to bring awareness on water pollution, quality, and management of water.

Water pollution occurs at two levels - Ignorance and deliberate action. Let us hope that there will be more stringent laws and regulations on water pollution at a global level along with educating the masses on the consequences of water pollution. 

Here is the UN link for some good pictures with facts.

http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/flash/g1/gallery1.html

"Water, water, everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink'. "

thus laments Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner". I can imagine the appropriateness of these verses even though the context is different!.

Ada…..Anita……March 8th…...

Happy March 8th - International Women’s day. Every epoch in History women have contributed to the development of science, technology, literature, education, medicine, law, social changes, and politics. Most importantly they provided a base for the next generation of women to continue to work on the progress of mankind and women’s rights. Every country and culture has produced these pioneers - named, nameless or less known in the written history. Many women rose beyond the tight social, cultural and political framework to bring the freedom of thought, women’s suffrage, and education. One day, we will have a World where women and men will work together in mutual respect for the common good be it a small village in Congo, a rural town in India, or a tribal village in Amazon.

I want to remember two of such women who had the courage to think out of the box.

I was introduced to ADA by my Expert Systems Professor in one of his lectures on the history of computer languages. He mentioned that the first programming language was named after a woman Ada Lovelace. She was born in 1815 to the famous poet Lord Byron. Apparently her interests were in Mathematics and she wrote programmes along with  Charles Babbage the father of computing languages. In one of her futuristic comments Ada predicted that Babbage’s “Analytical Engine” could be used in creating graphics, create music, and complex scientific calculation.

Anita Snook, a pioneer in aviation famously called as Neta Snook was born in 1896.   She managed to break the social constraints and got her flying instructions and opened a successful flying school in Kinner, California. In 1917, she gave flying instructions to Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. The student became more famous to the teacher's delight.

Let us celebrate and learn to reach new heights thereby providing yet another step for the disadvantaged women all over the World.