Tragedy Redefined

Here is a hilarious post by Prem Panicker in his blog Smoke Signals on US President George Bush teaching elementary school children the meaning of the word tragedy.

The Amicalola Falls

Georgia has several beautiful state parks full of lush green hiking trails, nature views and lively rivers, streams, and waterfalls. One such state park is the Amicalola state park in Dawsonville, Georgia. It is famous for the Amicalola Falls. Wikipedia tells me that the name Amicalola means, "tumbling waters" in Cherokee language, the language of native Americans in this region. The state park is situated in the Appalachian mountains that line the eastern side of the continent of North America, from southeastern Canada, to Northern Georgia.

We set out to visit this state park to see the falls, late morning on one sunny Saturday. It is about 80 miles from Atlanta (midtown, where we live), which would be about an hour and a half drive. The state park was pretty busy with several visitors, couples young and old, and children of all ages. We parked the car in the parking lot and picked up a map of hiking trails to the falls from the visitor center. However simple a trail might seem, a map of the area is highly useful. The person at the help desk in the visitor center pointed out two trails that we could take to reach the falls, the Base of Falls trail or the Creek Trail which eventually joins the Base of Falls trail. We decided to take the round about Creek trail. The Creek trail starts at a point where the Amicalola river is a small, quiet little stream. As we walked on, the stream started getting wider, bouncier, and more energetic. When we started the hike, we could not tell that we would be climbing a mountain apart from the stress of moving on steep and bumpy areas. After some distance of walking on the trail, we could see the parking lot where we parked our car. We had come up several feet on the mountain. The stream now seemed far below. Its sound was barely audible. It was a hot sunny afternoon, but we hardly felt the sun on the trail as it was covered and shaded with a variety of trees all around including some beautiful flowering trees in places.

After a 0.7 miles hike on the Creek trail, we reached the starting point of the Base of the Falls trail. We continued on this trail which was another 0.3 miles. This was a tough trail (for me surely), pretty steep! At the end of this trail we could get a clear view of the falls, but to get a better view and closer view of the falls there were 175 steps to a wide wooden bridge. From the bridge, the falls looked majestic and beautiful with water sparkling against the rays of the sun and flowing down into the gorge below and further into a stream. They were in fact multiple falls falling down the same gorge. Opposite the falls, far away, we could see the Appalachian mountain range. We rested for a short while at the falls enjoying the cool breeze from the gushing cool water. Further there are 475 more steps to the top of the mountain from where you can see the top of the falls and a scenic view of the Appalachians in Georgia.

Up we climbed all the way. We were already quite exhausted with all the hiking and the climbing. Another 475 steps did seem pretty daunting. There were landings with benches at every 70-100 steps where we could stop and rest a bit. Just as we started after a small break at one of the landings, a kid came down hopping and jumping down the stairs. He asked “Have you been to the top yet?” We said no, we are on our way up. “You must go, it is just awesome!” he said with a huge smile and his eyes sparkling with excitement as if he discovered the most wonderful thing in the world. The kid’s words were quite an energy booster. I too was excited to get to the top and get the “awesome” view. We climbed straight up with no more breaks.

The viewpoint was really “awesome”. We could see a much clearer view of the Appalachians and a wider range of the mountains too. The sun was shining over the mountains, painting them in different shades of pale yellow to golden yellow to emerald green in various places. The soft clouds hovering over some of the higher mountains gave the whole view a mystic look. Looking down from the viewpoint we could see the top of the falls. The water source of the falls was a small stream flowing over an almost flat area of the mountain that suddenly chipped in to form a steep gorge. That is what formed the falls.

We rested by the stream at the top of the mountain for quite some time enjoying the view of the Appalachians in front of us. Once we were all relaxed, we set back again for our journey down the mountain. We did not want to leave yet but we needed to reach to the base and get back on the highway back home before it was dark. The climb down the stairs was pretty easy. After the first flight of stairs, instead of going down the second flight of stairs and then back through the Base of the Falls trail, we decided to take another trail that started there to the foot of the mountains, called West Ridge trail. The West Ridge trail is unique as in, it is built using recycled rubber tyres. It looks just like any other tar road, but it is actually made with 100% recycled material and covered using recycled tyres.

The route to the foot of the mountains starting from the West Ridge trail went through several winding trails. One of them, the Spring trail, true to its name, had beautiful white flowers all along the route. Looking down on the trail, the whole mountain valley along it was covered with those flowers. A couple, that was hiking without a map in hand, was waiting at one point on the trails, for some company that had a map to guide so that they don’t get lost. They joined us midway. We followed the route in the map and after a hiking through series of trails of 1 mile, joined the Creak trail. The couple and we broke up at this point and we continued down the Creak trail to the foot of the mountains. The couple went in the direction of the Base of the Falls trail. We reached foot of the hills, and drove back home after a stressful, but beautiful hike.

Cheeni Kum Music by Illayaraja

Cheeni Kum is the latest Hindi movie in news. The startcast of Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu, Paresh Rawal, and Zohra Sehgal is very attractive. I am hoping to catch the flick in the hall when it releases here in Atlanta. There was a lot of hype about its music release. But I did not care much about it, as most music today is pretty unattractive. Moreover, I fear I might have to end up listening to Himesh Reshammiya! The other day while having dinner at an Indian restaurant, my eye fell on the promo of Cheeni Kum playing on the TV in a corner. That is when I glimpsed Illayaraja's name as its music director. Now I was excited! Ever since marriage, which led to my introduction to telugu films and film music (thanks to my hubby), I've grown to love Illayaraja's compositions. At my earliest chance (which was today), I opened Smashits.com to check out songs of Cheeni Kum. I was a little disappointed to note that two songs "Cheeni Kum" and "Sooni Sooni" both are just a reuse of a song from the old Telugu/Tamil movie Mouna Raagam (also composed by Illayaraja). While the song "Cheeni Kum" is a happy version of "Mallipoola Challa Gaali"/"Mandram Vantha", "Sooni Sooni" follows the same sad tune of the original song. Shreya Ghoshal does a decent job with "Cheeni Kum". Vijay Prakash (never heard of him before) however, is a disappointment. There are two new songs (the movie has four songs and two themes) "Batein Hawa" and "Jaane Do Na". Both are pretty good. Though "Batein Hawa" does not scale to Illayaraja's famed standards. Maybe I'll like it more after listening to it a couple of times more. "Jaane Do Na" is enjoyable. It has typical Illayaraja style music...so much that listening to it made me feel like I had heard this song before. The best is the theme song on saxophone. Yeah, that one is interesting. The sax if used well in songs is a really cool instrument! Hindi music hardly uses it anymore. Illayaraja also uses the sax in "Batein Hawa" at a couple of places. Well, I hope we have better, more exciting, and some fresh music from Illayaraja in future. I am still looking forward to the film...just hope that will not be a disappointment.

One of the Gulzar-RD Burman masterpieces

Few people know about Gulzar's unreleased 1988 movie Libaas, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi. There is one very beautiful romantic song in the movie, "Silli Hawa Choo Gayi". The lyrics are of course by Gulzar and the music is by RD Burman, and singer the melodious Lata Mangeshkar. This song is very difficult to find on the Internet, or to come across on television or radio. I saw this song on Doordarshan several years back, loved it, and ever since it has been on my mind. The slow, soft music and the amazing poetry wrapped in Lata's voice this is clearly a musical masterpiece. Click the play button on the player below to hear the song.

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask "How are you?"
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say "Hi"?
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

I've read this poem several times when I received it as a forwarded chain email. I was reminded of this poem on reading this article in the Washington Post that my husband forwarded me to read. Probably nothing says it better than this article to slow down and enjoy the beauty and the miracles that life has to offer you.

Blogging Food

Recipe books and websites of "famous" chefs always disappointed me (mostly Indian chefs'). They usually have recipes that require several exotic (hard or expensive to procure) ingredients or have a very elaborate process. The explanation of the cooking process is sometimes poor or insufficient. On trying out those recipes, I'd on most occasions end with an unsatisfactory output.

The advent of food blogs is a great blessing for people like me who are not very versatile cooks and could use help with authentic recipes to dishes that can be prepared using readily available ingredients. I like the step by step explanation of the recipes in these food blogs. Many of them even have photographs of the steps to cooking a dish. Now whether I need a recipe for a traditional dish for regular dinner/lunch, or a party dish, I first hit the food blogs. The blog owners belong to different regions of the world, from different cultures. When they share recipes of their traditional dishes, you can be sure that you are looking at an authentic one.

Indira of Mahanandi is one of the most popular food bloggers around and is almost kind of a pioneer in the area. Incidentally, hers was the first food blog I visited about an year and a half ago. I got addicted ever since and check her blog for updates, every other day. Through her blog, I was introduced to several others. Indira's Mahanandi won the Indiblog award 2006 for the best food blog.

Here is a list of Indian food blogs that I check out:
(These blogs also include recipes from other regions and all around the world)

Mahanandi - Andhra cuisine
Ginger and Mango - Kerela Cuisine
Bong Mom's Cookbook - Bengali Cuisine
En Ulagam - Tamil cuisine
Aayi's Recipes - Marathi cuisine
AkshayaPatra - Tamil cuisine
Sailu's Kitchen - Andhra cuisine
Malabar Spices - Kerela cuisine

Three cheers to the food bloggers!

Battle of Internet Services

Much innovation has happened in Internet services during the past three years. New browsers like Firefox fast gaining popularity, Google's email service that is threatening all older email services to renovate and upgrade or get wiped out, instant messaging integrated in email - another Google innovation, 1GB and 2GB email accounts, Google Talk messenger, and many more. While innovation is one way to keep up in the stiff competition. Here is another way of battling out a competitor service. Pretty amusing!

Film-making Talisman from the Guru

Mani Ratnam is currently one of the most accomplished film makers in India. Here is a wonderful interview by the man prior to the release of his great film Guru. Read it to know how he creates such masterpiece movies.

Mani Ratnam interview: Part 1, Part 2

Happy New Year 2007 and Sankranti!

10 year old director!

This 10 year old movie director seems to have more maturity and cinematic sense than any other director we have in Indian cinema today. The so-called big-shot directors should learn something from this kid and direct more sensible movies. Movies that inspire the society to do good, to make this world a better place to live, instead of showing crazy science fiction, mindless violence, and extramarital affairs.

Mmmm! Coffee

Coffee is one of my favorite drinks. I love the smell of it in coffee shops and in the coffee aisle in grocery shops. I rarely start a day without one. South Indians are big fans of rich home brewed coffee. Some are passionate about their coffee to the extent that they would shop for the perfect coffee beans every month that would be roasted at home to perfection and ground to a specific granularity. The specifications extend further to the consistency to which the coffee should be brewed and the amount of milk and sugar that is added to achieve the taste that they approve and enjoy. Author RK Narayan has written an extremely interesting essay on coffee in his collection of essays called Next Sunday.


As much as I love coffee, I am not a connoisseur of coffee. I just buy my coffee from my local grocery shop and am even ready to experiment with various types of coffee. While I do make plain old coffee at home regularly, I like to make an occasional trip to the coffee shop for the fancy concoctions they offer. One of the attractions of is the cute latte art that the baristi create in the cups. I wondered how they make these beautiful images with coffee and milk. I found this site called Coffee Geek that explains the techniques of this art. You can read more articles on latte art on this site.

Source: coffeeactivist (flickr)

The Browser Rivals

IE and Firefox are rivals in the world of browsers. Increasing number of users taking to Firefox shook IE. It forced Microsoft to bring a new version IE7 with the tabbed browsing feature and the built-in Search bar that became popular with Firefox. IE7 released on 18th October 2006. Mozilla did not want to stay far behind and released Firefox 2 shortly after, on 24th October 2006.

It is interesting to note how Microsoft congratulated Mozilla on the release of Firefox2. Check out this cake that they sent to the Firefox team.

Welcome Firefox 2!

On 24th October 2006, Mozilla released Firefox 2. As the Firefox team says:

Firefox 2's theme and user interface have been updated to improve usability without altering the familiarity of the browsing experience.

The interface has not changed much, but there are significant changes in its functionality. The tabbed browsing feature now has some improved and appreciable features.

Better use of the tabbed browsing feature: All links that opened in a new window will now open by default in a new tab. Now that should help people get better used to the tabbed browsing mechanism.

Better navigation: While surfing the net we open several webpages on several tabs by navigating through various links. For instance, when searching on Google for some information, we open several result pages in various tabs. And maybe more web pages from the links in those result pages. In the previous versions of Firefox, closing a tab activated the tab before it. In Firefox 2 closing a tab, takes you back to the web page on which you clicked the link to this closed web page. I love this feature. I can now quickly trace how I reached a particular web page. Also, I can get back to the source web page and browse other links on the page.

Better search toolbar: Now as you type your search phrase in the Google toolbar on the browser, it shows you a list of suggestions in a drop-down list. Select the phrase that best describes what you are searching for and hit Enter to get the results. This is a great solution for people who felt quizzed by search techniques and tried hard to figure out how best to get good search results.

Built-in spellcheck: Firefox 2 now has a built-in spellcheck. When you use a web form, it marks the incorrect spellings with a red line as you type, just as in Microsoft Word. This is a useful feature not just for e-mails and blogs, but also when you type comments, make a guest book entry, or best when filling up an online job application.

I say, I am pretty impressed with the improvements in Firefox 2. This upgrade is not about giving fancy facelifts to the browser. It is really about making browsing more easy and more pleasurable.

Download Firefox2

Of Imitations and Remakes

We are all familiar with the wonder of the world, our own Taj Mahal. It is the most beautiful piece of architectural wonder I've ever laid my eyes on. It has an amazingly calming and soothing effect on the eyes and the mind. I doubt if anything in marble looked as magnificent as the Taj. Azam Shah, son of Auragzeb, vied to build for his mother, another Taj Mahal as a masoleum. Though the monument imitates very well the looks and structure of Taj Mahal, it is not even half as magnificent. This is the Bibi ka Maqbara, also known as the mini Taj or the poor man's Taj Mahal. It is located in the city of Aurangabad, in Maharashtra, India.

The Taj Mahal(left) and Bibi ka Maqbara(right)

I was reminded of this architectural imitation Taj Mahal, or should I call it a remake of the Taj Mahal, with the recent spree of remake films rolling out of Bollywood: Don, Umrao Jaan, and the soon to come Sholay. The originals are the hallmark of commercial Indian cinema. The don of Indian cinema Amitabh Bachchan's, fiery performance was what gave life and spice to films like Don. As for Sholay, it is probably a legendary film among all commercial cinema. We have grown up admiring these films and being as mesmerized by Amitabh Bachchan's power packed performance as with the beauty of the Taj Mahal. We know it is impossible to have another Amitabh Bachchan as it is to have another Taj Mahal. We therefore should accept these remakes as imitations that can never even come close resembling the originals. Shahrukh Khan may be called King Khan, but it would be unreasonable to expect him to match up to the Shehenshah Amitabh Bachchan. I personally feel that such remake films are a wastage of time, money, and energy.

Chinese Food

Chinese food is probably the most loved international cuisine next to pizzas. Noodles, fried rice, spring rolls, dumplings, aromatic teas, and amazing soups. These comprise the popular Chinese dishes. When we go to a Chinese restaurant, we never forget to order the hot and sour soup, right? Spring rolls or some dumplings may be ordered as appetizers. For a drink people order some of aromatic tea or maybe just a beer or a soft drink. The main course typically is a couple of varieties of their noodles and rice. It is fun to finish off with the fortune cookies and oranges.

However, this is not how the Chinese would have their meal. I came across an interesting article on the Chinese food culture. Here is what it says.

Contrary to popular belief, the Chinese don't normally drink tea during a meal. Tea is enjoyed afterward in a relaxing atmosphere. Besides encouraging conversation, it helps promote digestion.

Just as we like to relax with a cup of coffee after a good meal.

Water or soft drinks aren't served, as the Chinese believe it is unhealthy to serve cold drinks with a meal. A thin soup makes an appetizing substitute.

Huh! And we thought that drinks always accompany any type of meal.

Serve a thick soup for lunch or dinner. Normally you wouldn't serve a thick soup at a meal that has several other dishes.

And guess what, the hot and sour soup classifies into thick soups. So a hot and sour soup is not supposed to be followed by a series of dishes for the main course.

During a banquet, serve a thin soup between courses. Similar to a sorbet, thin soups can cleanse the palate and prepare it for the next course.

Hmm! Isn't that interesting? I think I am going to try and follow this during my next trip to a Chinese restaurant. I must have the hot and sour soup though. I love it! I'll remember to go by the rest of the rules about drinks and main course accordingly.

What is in a Name?

What is in a name? Much importance is given to the name given to a child or the name a person beholds. Parents of earlier generations used to name their children after Gods and Godesses. These days however, parents try to give modern, fashionable, and innovative names to their children.

In south India, peoples' names tend to be long and many times complex. Sometime back I read a hillarious article in a blog on the woes of a south Indian guy bearing a long and complex name. These long and complex names are not thought to be cool and hence detested by youngsters of this generation. For such people, I bring a story of a man from south India whose long and complex name got him recognition for his work. He even has a fan club thanks to his "complex" name! Meet Mr. Seetharaman Narayanan of Adobe Photoshop fame.

The 21st Century Browser

I have four e-mail accounts to check, I want to read the news on a website, and fill up my assignment status on my organization’s intranet site. Do I open 5 windows of IE and work on them or have just one window of Firefox with the required websites open in 5 different tabs? I prefer the latter to switching through the clutter of windows on my taskbar. This ‘Tabbed Browsing’ feature of Firefox attracted me to it about nearly two years ago. I now love this browser that I call the 21^st century browser.

Firefox has improved a lot and become a lot more user friendly since I first got introduced to it. I can view websites that function only in IE using the IE Tab extension. I do not need to open a search engine site to search for information on the web. I can simply type in the search bar on the menu bar of the browser and search using the search of my choice. I can also search for meanings in dictionaries on the web, and products in websites like Amazon! All, without typing the website address to open the site first.

Pop-up ads have been a pain in the neck while browsing the web. Several pop-up blockers were created to relive users of pop-ups. Some were blocked others managed to sneak through. Pop-up blockers are also the source of adware and viruses that can harm the computer. With the Ad-block extension of Firefox, I never again faced a pop-up ad. It is the most efficient pop-up blocker ever!

I recently discovered the Forecastfox extension. Earlier I used to visit the weather.com website from the Firefox search bar to check weather forecast for the day. Now I have it constantly being updated on my browser’s status bar! The various browser themes are of course the fun part of Firefox. It is fun dabbling with the looks of the browser and having a new one every now and then, rather than the same constant bland look. Firefox has several wonderful features and extensions that make browsing fun. The list could go pretty long!

So guys, if you still haven’t switched to Firefox (which surprises me!), right away, Go Firefox! I am sure you will never return to IE.

Festivals

We have all have fond memories of the various festivals that were a part of our growing years. The excitement of making preparations for the festivities, decorating the house, mom's delicacies, new clothes. It is funny when people in India are surprised to see people staying abroad celebrate the festivals with great excitement and dedication. I think when we are away from home, each approaching festival brings memories of it from home, and we long to recreate the same excitement and fun. We enjoy in putting in that extra effort to procure the hard to find things like mango leaves, betel leaves, and the right puja coconut. When the eventual output is as close as possible to what we had back home, it makes us thrilled and feel closer to home.

It was our first Vinayaka Chaturthi in the US this year. It is a big festival for us. We enjoyed a lot making preparations for it. We took photos of the puja and sent them home back in India. The palavelli that we made using wooden columns bought from hardware store, was the center of attraction. I hope we are able to make better and more beautiful arrangements in each of the coming years.

The Opening

Hello people! Yet another blog opens on the web. Yet another person decides to put her thoughts out for the world to read. It is interesting to see how popular blogging has become. Writing was considered a skilled job, an art, and it was believed that not everyone is blessed with this skill. But with such a large number of good blogs out there, I must say there is a huge writer population today that almost make blogs a form of literature.

I have always been fond of writing, and starting a blog has been on my mind for a while. Only I kept wondering why would people be interested to spend time in reading my thoughts or observations? After some deliberation I thought, 'aw! what the heck...I'll write for my own pleasure of writing. If people are interested to stop by my blog, it is only better'. Hence was finally born, 'The Red Hibiscus'. The hibiscus absolutely fascinates. It is bright and has a simple form, yet has great elegance. Welcome folks, to 'The Red Hibiscus'!