Goodbye February.....Welcome March.....Feeling Positive.....

O'HARE

Busy February is ending.  Blizzards, wind chill, snow and cold as usual put me on a litmus test during travels. I braved it whether it is a weather related flight delay or getting stranded in an airport during a layover.

Manhattan view

Being calm is the essential ingredient to face the unknown during travels.
February is a month that gives one a first ray of hope for spring. It begins with the Ground Hog's day. Theories about global warming also float during this month when a bizarre blizzard or icy rain strikes.

After new year, January literally push us to execute the resolutions made during the New Year! First 10 days are very intense in executing the diet plan, exercise schedule and after that the enthusiasm slowly fades away.  Then comes February with its sudden spurt of  cold weather and freaky snow storm and life becomes normal. An excuse for not going to the gym, lounging and blaming the weather!

On a flight to CT

Today is the last day of February and it feels good to step into March. March usually brings another surge of optimism to end the quarter successfully both in business and personal life, to learn from the mistakes and think positively. Life goes on - teaching us to adapt to nature, smile and  not to blame the weather when we know very little about the grand design of the universe.

Spring is not far!

PEACE ON EARTH

All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.

Appa....Père...Padre....

June 19th is Father’s day... Sales and ads are enticing and inviting. When I grew up in India we know more about James Bond movies than about  “Father’s Day”. Now India has changed and is more global. My childhood memories of my Father were a combination of family, religion, and the culture of India. It was taken for granted that father is there to protect us and will get us what we want. All one has to do is to meet the expectations of being a good student and a good child by following the family rules. Also, we did not express our love and admiration openly by giving him a gift or card. .


As children we were brought up with so many “do’s and don’ts”. Both our parents somehow created a picture that discipline must not be compromised. We should be back in the house by 5:00pm to finish the home work and get ready for the evening prayers. My best memories are the after dinner walks he took us when we were children. My brother and I will hold each one of his hands and my father will carry my baby sister. We walk up to the huge mango tree at the turn of the street where he will stop and show us the stars in the sky. The Milky Way and the Great bear were explained with stories. If we continue on the left we will be going towards the YMCA Golf grounds and if we turn right we will end up for a small stopover at the Nayar’s tea stall. It is a small shack with candy jars and a hissing copper boiler which was used to make tea. My father used to buy some fruits as a treat for us even though I would have preferred the special candy made with grated coconut and Molasses which we call “Camarcut”. I am not sure why that candy was named like that. It sounded exotic and I liked the taste of it.

Another nostalgic memory of him was his love for books. His collections included novels, classics, philosophy, history, and poems. I remember seeing a very old edition of King’s English and a complete set of Bernard Shah’s novels published by Penguin. It started as a fun to browse his bookshelf and soon without my knowledge I started loving books and reading. He never attended our school day functions when we received prizes for our academic and extracurricular accomplishments. He was always busy with his work. It was my mother who took so much interest in our studies and reading books. His way of showing affection was a smile or an approving nod. Regardless, we knew that he loved us.
Over the years he mellowed down from a stern father into a loving person until he passed away in 1999. When he was in the US, I joked that I owed him so many Father’s day gifts and cards for all the missed years. Even now sometimes I wonder whether I told him enough of “how much I love him”. Unfortunately, we grow up or wake up only when people are gone. That is why I think those who celebrate Father’s Day every year are lucky. At least one gets a chance to express love and affection openly even if it is thru a card or word or a nod!.

Happy Father's Day!

Peace on Earth!

All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.

Litteratura....Grammata.....e-Mail....

I quickly closed the PDA when the US Airways flight attendant announced the departure of my fight to Washington DC. I was half way through an e-mail. Sitting back I started reading the in flight magazine. An excerpt from the book "Tyranny of e-mail" by John Freeman caught my attention. Apparently Freeman has compiled enough data to support his theory that e-mail is indeed a menace!.  I can understand if he had talked about spam but the theme of his book is how e-mail has altered the business life and cases where productivity has lowered.

Pardon me! John Freeman should have put more efforts to write on how to use the e-mail tool more effectively. One can use additional spam-filters in business networks, add another "How to" training program for effective e-mail communication.

I thought some people must have reacted the same way as the author in every epoch of human history when the cave paintings were replaced by clay tablets, papyrus, Palmyra leaves and subsequently ink and paper followed by printed material and now Internet and e-messages!.

Expression of thought, feelings, imagination, facts, and news require a medium. The evolution of writing shows that we have been constantly in search of or improving the tools to convey our thoughts. Why blame e-mail or newer technology!

                                         Photo: Rinconada Canyon Petroglyph – New Mexico

All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.

Delhi....Schmaltzy....Celebs....

Arrived in Delhi on the foggy cool morning of October 28th.  Kumkum was at the airport with a big smile to recieve me and my sister. We were quite excited about Mashima's (Kumkum's Mother) birthday celebs on October 31st. Mashima is such a caring person. It is always fun when she is around.  Age never matters to be friends with her. How can I ever forget the yummy Baingan Bhartha (egg plant curry with a special gravy) that she makes for me.  Guess what... I had my  favorite dish this time also when we had lunch.

On October 31st we attended the Rabindra Sangeeth concert at the India International Center followed by the  cocktails and dinner honoring Mashima's 75th birthday.   We enjoyed the evening with familiar and new faces full of smiles and laughter. Kumkum has organized it beautifully and asked the guests to donate to a charity instead of presents and gifts. She also wrote a lucid and humorous chronicle on Mashima that was distributed to the guests.

I also met some good old friends. It was great to meet Balu and his wife Rama almost after 5 years.  Kumkum arranged a luncheon with JNU buddies. It was great to share some happy memories with Kumkum, Suchetha and Maithri.

Overall Delhi visit was fun filled with the highlight of October 31st. Delhi was also getting prepared to welcome Obama on November 6th. It was  great to see the admiration for Obama in India.  When you are outside America, hearing good comments about our President does matter. Inevitably I felt proud!


All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.

Random...Cosmic....Design....

Usually I skip the book review if the subject or author happened to be my favorite.  Recently, "The Economist" has published a review on Stephen Hawking's "The Grand Design".  It seems to be an impartial review. It brought the factual errors and also how Hawking and his co-writer Mlodinow have been flippant and no conclusive answers. http://www.economist.com/node/16990802

This review has poked my interest and I want to read the whole book to know more about how these two scientists try to provide the real grand design of the cosmos or failed to explain what exactly is the grand design.

Currently, I am reading the book "A search in secret Egypt" by Dr. Paul Brunton the British philosopher and Yogi.  This book is fascinating just like his other book " A search in secret India".   In his travels, Brunton met with numerous yogis, mystics, mendicants, hypnotists and even magicians to find out the links between the self and the universe.  In Egypt, Brunton had managed to spend a night alone inside the great pyramid.  Brunton has captivated me through the simple narration of his experience and connecting the dots - self and the cosmos. Yet, the questions on why we are here and what lies beyond the universe remains a mystery.

This morning I looked at the rising sun's rays smiling through the oak tress in the backyard. The branches moved gently in the wind and the rays moved randomly  creating multiple designs like a kaleidoscope.  Undeterred by the wind or light, not worrying about the "Grand Design" or not I saw a squirrel focusing on the acorn on one of the branches.

Photo Courtesy: National Geographic



Post Script:  I did not have a camera handy with me. Got this photo from National Geographic!

All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.

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!

Snow! Child! Adult!....

Finally the blizzard hit the Washington DC area on friday.   Luckily, I returned home on thursday night from my business trip. Once we are prepared with the essentials like milk and groceries then it is waiting for the arrival of that first snow flakes. This time it was non-stop. The snow flakes were falling down rhythemically. TV news anchors were busy with the updates.
This blizzard brought almost 28 inches of snow, a record equal to the year 1922. After a while I stopped watching the updates and concentrated on the beauty of the snow.  Watching the snow slowly engulfing the surroundings is like observing an artist painting a landscape. The snow creates wonderful sculptures on the branches of the trees and shrubs.  During the night,  the moonlight has turned everything bright. It is almost similar to the northern lights.  It almost beckons one to take a walk. But, the practical side of me refused to wear the snow boots and the gear to venture into the night for a walk. So cosily I covered myself with a blanket and drank hot tea instead! 
This morning it was time to rock! Joined the children in our neighborhood and had a great time throwing snow balls and sledding around. Shoveling the snow does not seem like a chore anymore.

The weekend has ended so also the snow showers. The child in my heart has slept peacefully dreaming about the next chance perhaps viewing the sunrise from the plane. Meanwhile the adult side of me has began checking the tasks for the week and started packing for yet another business trip. "Woods are lovely dark and deep...".