At the Canyon.... the Grand one!!!!!

A picture says it all.

Well this was my first visit to the Grand Canyon, AZ, 20 months after living in the Arid zone, aka Arizona. I have almost overcome my fear for road-trips(well not totally, and will not go another one for 2 years atleast) and we were a group of 7 in a Grand Caravan going to the Grand Canyon.

We were also at the Arizona Snowbowl at Flagstaff, the San Francisco mountain. We were 11000 feet above the sea level(if thought Bangalore was at the same height too).

A detailed blog on that soon.

I captioned this photo 'The Grand Canyon - A wonder captured by another wonder.... oops me'. :)

Vettiness

My blog description reads 'As if blogging were a height of vettiness.....'. For the souls that are not aware of this Thanglish(Tamil + English) word, vettiness is a state of joblessness. Vetti means jobless in Tamil, the dravidian language.

It was not until recently(say 18 months ago) that I got to know of this word. My stay in this desert has taught me a good bunch of Tamil words apart from many other things. This word was one of it too. Being vetti is the trademark of a Graduate student in the Summer and winter breaks unless someone has path-breaking research to work on or a demanding internship. Vettipaechu is the word for non-stop talk without a purpose.

Enough of Vetti blogging..... Me getting ready to go home.....

Flower - Life

Oh flower!!!!
Though short-lived,
your life is a joyous one....
as a queen who rules,
the world for a day....
which is unachievable....
by anyone else.
Lingering on one's lips....
in the form of honey,
you make one's life sweet,
which is again....
possible by a very few.

Enjoy your life....
the short one....
Make someone's life sweet....
thus making your life meaningful....

(Some portions of this are inspired by the song 'Poova Poove'(oh flower) from Poovellaam Kaettupar(Ask all the flowers)).
Picture Courtesy: The flowers at the potluck at Dr. Antonia's place on 12th May 2007. :)

Non-stop Nonsense

As I walk to the end of this semester, I turn back to see the two years that I've spent here. With most of my friends gone after this semester, it is going to be a really different life for me, but yet the same, with new people around. I hope it continues to be a good learning experience for me.

In these two years I have learned something that I hadn't learned in the years I was under my parent's warmth back home.

And the summer is here, though the past week has been pleasant, not too hot. More blogs to crib on the AZ summer soon.

Meanwhile, this weekend was a movie fiesta for me. I saw Lesa Lesa, Pardes and Meenaxi: A Tale of three cities. I watched Lesa Lesa completely for the first time, it was a really beautiful movie in terms of colors, music and locales. Pardes made me think about the artificiality of the life that is lived here in the US, but was long, but devoid of Sharukh's overacting and heroics, sonce it was not his movie at all. Meenaxi, though a complex movie was beautiful with the genius' music and some slick camera work in shooting the beautiful Jaisalmer and Prague.
I also happened to see 'Kangalal Kaidhu Sei', later on in the weekend, even though my prediction that the movie was going to be a big letdown. I simply love the songs in the movie, remarkably different from the usual stuff that is around. But, I have no idea why they had to feature in a movie of errors like this one.

More movies lined up for the summer :), but work comes first. The demands and expectations of my superiors are increasing and I need to push myself into that. I am sure, I will so well.

Hindi blog

हिंदी में भी blogging. वाह रे वाह

Just got blogging in Hindi activated. Hopefully, they introduce in more and more Indian languages.

Summer in AZ

I somehow dread the aspect of being in AZ this summer. Having been in Bangalore all my 21 summers, including the last one, I somehow cannot digest that I AM going to be here this summer. I've heard summer being the most productive time for research, since you cannot head out anywhere till 7-8 pm any day, it's best if you are in your office/lab by 8 am. I hope this does some good to me. I am also going to be teaching, and my class is a 1 pm and I pity my students who will have to come by at that time. Fortunately, for me, my lab is in the same building, so I am saved from the torture of walking in the mid-day heat, unless I wake up later on in the morning and need to rush to hold my class :).
Bangalore is blessed and has one of the spectacular climate(unpredictable at times though). The temperature there never goes beyong 35 deg C(95 F) on most days of the year. If at all it goes beyond 35 deg C, it is going to rain in a day or two and this brings the temperature down.
Having cribbed about those few 100 F days, I see this as a oven to get baked, a frying pan to get fried, and a dryer to get dry(literally). I remember the day I landed here in Phoenix at 2 am, and when I stepped out of the aircraft, a gust of hot air greeted me. I felt as if a hair dryer was targetted at me. For a portion of a last summer(1 month), I was here, and the AC in my apartment was being too very good and kept the room hotter than ever. I hope it is better this time. But one good thing about AZ is that, there is very little or no humidity at all. It saves me from the sticky days that I used to see in Chennai.
How I survive this summer might be a good thing to write at the end of summer(does it ever end?). I might live on fruits, juice(as usual), and icecream(something I have been limiting for a while). Sunscreen would be a tool, if not an umbrella to shield me from the sunshine.
Hope the summer ends soon.

Virginia Tech Massacre

I pray for the souls of the people who lost their lives in the Virginia Tech shoot-out. May they Rest in Peace.

A dear friend

A friend of mine.....
Always with me at work.....
A giver of happiness.....
Places good notes in my ears.....

Strives to pass to me.....
All that he receives.....
Whether he likes it or not....
Just to make me happy.....
Bearing with my moods.....
And a change in them.....

My headphone.....
Stay with me forever.....