Happy Diwali

I was waiting for the cold weather. Surprised?? Well me too. If you know me, I am a kind of person who feels nervous when the temperature drops below 70F. All my friends make fun of me all the time as for me even Phoenix is cold. But nonetheless I was waiting for the winter to begin. I could gladly take some time off from heat and sweat. Winter for me is Diwali. Festival of lights. Now with colder nights and Diwali just round the corner, I could not help missing home.

Diwali generally is celebrated in November. But this year according to Hindu calender it begins of October 25th. There are many stories attached to Diwali. The first day "Narak Chaturdashi" is about celebrating victory of good over evil. It's the day when Lord Krishna killed Narak Asura, and freed 16,000 women from his prison. Traditionally every one gets up before dawn takes a holy bath and prays. There are amazing treats during the four days of Diwali. Chakali, Ladoo,Chiwada, Anarase hmmmm...yummy. We would meet friends and family and share the joy of lights. My sister would put Rangoli in front of house and many diyas. We would hunt for the best colorful diyas days before Diwali.

The evening of the first day is "LaxmiPujan". Laxmi is the goddess of wealth. So we pray to her. We believe that if you pray to goddess this evening, you will never be short of money during the year. This ritual is particularly important for business people and you would find amazing fireworks in the evening.

The second day is BaliPratipada. It is the day to take blessings for the married couples. Husband would give gift to wife. Just thinking and understanding how important is to be together as a couple.

Last day is Bhaubeej. To celebrate love of brother and sister. Sister invites her brother/s over for lunch and they just spend together whole day.

I always thought Diwali is celebration of humanity. Just to know how important is to do good, love each other and think about how blessed we are with all the good things in our life. Lit a diya and think about all the good in the world. I am sure every culture has some way or the other to celebrate the goodness in the world. Festival is the time to meet the loved ones and just spend time together. Now a days with all the communication we are still lacking the human contact. I think just being together itself brings great happiness. I am planning to celebrate this Diwali with my friends and with family over the phone. May this festival bring light of happiness in you life...

Happy Diwali!!

Inadequate

Do you sometime feel that you are doing an inadequate job? At work at home at school? I am feeling this for a while now. The semester started with a big bang and I missed just 1 class in first week. It was not bad. Ia m doing my readings, homework , group work everything I should be doing. But I just feel that I am not up to the mark and I am not sweating enough. At work I am following my routine assignments and get them when as per the deadline. But still Ia m not happy. We moved to a new better place, V has a new job of his choice and everything is going well. But I just feel am not doing a good job anywhere. May be I should be more focused. V says I have this phobia all round the school year. So he is just ignoring me. With mid term on my hand I need to be better prepared. I hope I will be able to satisfy myself.

Intensives

Few things never change. Like my love for reading and the laziness of writing. It is for the same reason I have not written any post for almost a month. In the past month many things happened and most of them were very interesting. But me being a lazy soul these days carefully forgot to write about any of them. At last I shed my laziness and here comes some new topic. My recent liking of Intensive classes.

One of the interesting part of the MPA program is the number of intensive classes offered through out the semester. Let's define intensive class. It is a class which generally will be there for two or three week ends instead of 15 weeks of regular per week class. But for those 2/3 days the class will go on from 9-5 or 8-4. I was very hesitant initially before signing for the class. But I had to as the class I am taking as intensive is only offered as intensive. The three day week end of class is totally grilling. It's feels as if you are hogging over the knowledge for three days uninterrupted :)But the best part is once you are done withe two week ends , the in class work is done. it does not mean the work is over. You will keep completing take home assignment or projects through out the semester. But the weekend deal is good. Especially for working professionals. They just need to take 2 week ends off.The caveat is for someone like me who likes to be in class every week just to be on track , you have to be very careful not to lose the track. It's important that the work is updated ,group discussions happen and use of blackboard is frequent.

The class itself has many breaks in between. So don't think that you would be in the room for 8 hours. But overall it's a worth experience.

I would recommend an intensive if possible. It's a different learning experience. And trust me we are totally capable of learning a lot withing those six days. All you need a good lunch and hot coffee to go with. The best deal comes when the instructor gets of best bagels.

I am just done with one week end and loads of work is yet to be completed. I like it. A different experience. What's the point of being a student and missing this innovative learning experience :)

After being away from Tempe for almost three months I returned finally, last Thursday. I missed Tempe ! It’s funny that I was visiting home in India but still thinking about going back to Tempe. As time passed, the new place which initially was just a university town started meaning more. I did not understand that initially but a prolonged absence from the neighborhood made me feel “Oh I miss you Tempe!”

I am staying in Arizona for last two years and now it is my home. I was glad to be away for the summer but at the same time kept thinking about how hot the summer is going to be this year. When I was in DC nearly 100% humidity hit me badly. I was telling my roommates that in AZ we just get roasted but we still are OK with the dry heat. I never knew that humidity would be bothering me a lot.

Even at home, when I was chatting with friends, I would talk a lot about how beautiful Arizona is! And many of my friends who think [ US = NY + CA ], this statement comes as a shock. “Are you kidding me? How can a desert be beautiful??” But for me who has been enjoying the stable weather, desert is beautiful. I never knew that Cacti bloom with beautiful flowers. Never knew the fun with almost 360 days of clear sun, no storms, no snow …Just bear the summer for 4 months and for the rest of year enjoy the gorgeous weather. This summer I got a chance to travel along the US and visit many interesting cities. At times I felt if I should move to another place. But soon I realized that I really love Tempe. The campus, the students, the happening Mill Avenue, the parties, the compact feel of the place…everything I just love being in that vibrant community. I am moving back to Tempe soon and I am really excited about it.

Hail Tempe!! Here I come…

Indian Rain

It has been raining since 12:30 in the night. I was waiting for this since I came to Pune. Monsoon has finally returned to Maharashtra. In fact it has rained so heavily in many areas including Mumbai that public transportation got a set back. Dams are almost full and the water supply now seems to sufficient for the next year.

I love Indian monsoon..

Chai Garam

Today I was looking for some coffee in the kitchen. I was almost about to make French Roast when I saw a box of Chai which I did not see before. So I picked the Chai and opened the lid of the brewer and guess what someone before me made the same Chai :) Guess today I was supposed to enjoy a hot cup of Chai.

Take Me Home

It’s time to go home. This is the last week of my internship in DC. So I am wrapping up stuff which I need to get done before I leave. Writing a small report, uploading documents, updating web site and some more small assignments. 10 weeks was not a too little of time but they just flew with a speed of a lightening. I was lucky to find a decent apartment with good roommates in Foggy Bottom which is one of the vibrant parts of the town. Living neat GWU campus and minutes of walking to metro station was the best part of the stay.

In between I had to move along with my roomies as they found a new place nearby. Well the new place is sunny and bright and I am having a decent time there. I got to visit Georgetown many a times. Spent good money at the shopping malls, visited National Archives and US Capitol, two of the “Must Visit” destinations for me. Also got to see some movies, club and in general strolling on the beautiful roads of DC. In all the stay was productive and interesting.
Work was good and it did get a little bit monotonous in between but overall a good experience. Met good colleagues and a wonderful supervisor who is also arranging a small farewell party for me. I am moved by this gesture!

So far so good. V is coming to town on Thursday and then Saturday we are driving to NJ. And then next Monday I am flying home to India, Pune….To the place I belong :)

Almost heaven, west virginia

Blue ridge mountains
Shenandoah river -Life is old there
Older than the trees
Younger than the mountains
Growin like a breeze

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

All my memories gathered round her
Miners lady, stranger to blue water
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine
Teardrops in my eye

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

I hear her voice
In the mornin hour she calls me
The radio reminds me of my home far away
And drivin down the road I get a feelin
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads
Take me home, now country roads
Take me home, now country roads

Words and music by bill danoff, taffy nivert and john denver