A Birthday post!!!

A Birthday post!!!

Here's what Milton had to say on his 23rd...enjoy!!

How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stolen on his wing my three-and-twentieth year!
My hasting days fly on with full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th.
Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth
That I to manhood am arrived so near;
An inward ripeness doth much less appear,
That some more timely-happy spirits endu'th.
Yet, be it less or more, or soon or slow,
It shall be still in strictest measure even
To that same lot, however mean or high,
Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven:
All is, if I have grace to use it so,
As ever in my great Task-master's eye.

- John Milton.

The 55 word thingy!!

The 55 word thingy!!

With all my heart, I tell you this,
Its been a while,
Since I’ve asked you much.
You’ve been so good
You are so kind
I have no reason to complain,
Yet, let this not be a wish in vain.
Make her happy, she ought to be,
That’s all I ask in prayer to thee.

This is a pretty neat idea......55 words about anything under the sun. I was tagged by Ramani and pass the baton to Bobby, Arjun and those two lazy oafs Dooma and Ro.

Calls for National Integration - a linguistic one?

Calls for National Integration - a linguistic one?

India has always been a land of many cultures and languages. You cannot travel more than 100 miles without encountering a new dialect or language. Such is the diversity of the people.

But I would have never imagined that the boundaries between them were so distinct. Over the last year I have come to realize that people are more than happy to socialize with others that share the same mother tongue. Personally, i have never quite noticed or experienced it until now. Ever since my school days i have had friends whose vernacular varies from bengali to gujarati, from malayalam to hindi. I have never found it difficult or weird mingling with a crowd in which tamil was not the medium of communication. I guess English has always kept us all together.

Last year more than 20 of us came to Minneapolis from Tamil nadu. We represented the lion's share of all desis in the city by far. Who would imagine that in America of all places, with English being the only dominant language, bonds will form between people who shared a common language as opposed to a common interest. Groups slowly formed neatly divided by language. Tamil guys stick to Tamil Nadu, Telugu junta to Andhra and Marathi people to Maharashtra. The boundaries were as well known and evident as our state boundaries in India. Never more so than now when there has been a huge hiatus of students from Mumbai and Pune to match the Tamil population eye for eye.

Even though I see this phenomenon in flesh and blood in front of me, I still believe that it is just an aberration. People do not have a natural tendency toward ones with a common language. Yes, initially maybe, but your closest friends simply do not need to share the same mother tongue. As long as you enjoy each other's company, it really doesn't matter whether you call your mother mom, amma or aai.

p.s. this post has no reference to manmohan singh's address to the nation today or to Kalam's support for hindi although it is an interesting coincidence.

Camping at Lake Superior

Split rock lighthouse!

Its been a year since I landed in Minnesota and one thing missing from my ever growing travels was a visit to lake superior.

Last weekend I finally got to soak in the brilliance of the world's largest fresh water lake. It was a proper camping trip............tents, grills and all. Even though the drive isn't as beautiful as people make it out to be, nothing can prepare you for the first sight of the lake. The sheer volume of it is breathtaking. Anybody who has been to Duluth will know what I'm talking about. And a cloudless sunny day to boot. Just magnificent. I guess this is the best time to visit even though people come up here for the fall colors.

Even in summer, the water in the lake is far too cold for a dip. So we just had to keep to frisbee and kites on the beach. I was quite looking forward to the barbecue that night. It was almost comical looking at the five of us trying to grill every vegetable known to man. I have to concede.......the idea of a barbecue was not conceived with vegetarians in mind.

But it was capped off by a brilliant starry night. It was a new moon day and all the stars had come out to play. Just sitting there gazing at the sky was really the ideal end to a wonderful day!

Le tour de Rochester

Le tour de Rochester

Summer finally feels like it. Searing temperatures, bright sunshine, native minnesotans complaining of the unbearable heat...............unbearable - i would gladly take them on a trip around chennai in may on my kinetic honda to make them understand what unbearable really means.

In an automobile dominated country, its pleasantly surprising to find that there are quite a few dedicated biking or cycling enthusiasts around here. If it wasn't for them, there wouldn't be such wonderful bike trails all over rochester and minnesota. Biking, and therefore bikes, are of two types - mountain and road. And there are bike trails to keep both parties interested. I haven't really tried the dirt bike trails through the woods and orchards but I have taken a fancy to road biking. These are the race bikes - thin, large diameter aerodynamic wheels, a sophisticated gear system, and light as a feather. And these beauties can really fly. I haven't really clocked the speed but I'm sure they can easily do more than 40mph. And recreational trails are the perfect paths to realize the full potential of these speed machines. Biking along the zumbro river here in rochester and soaking in the scenery just adds to the joy of the whole experience. I use an old Schwinn, but some of the latest road bikes like the ones from Raleigh and Specialized are just unbeatable.

So if you have always enjoyed cycling and are thinking twice about buying a bike, just rent a bike and see for yourself. Off roading with a dirt bike or flying through trails, once you are hooked, there is no turning back.

My favourite movies!

My favourite movies!

I was just watching Chariots of Fire after ages and it simply overwhelms me everytime. So here's a list of some other movies that do the same..............

In no particular order

Patch Adams
Finding Neverland
Philadelphia
Good Will Hunting
One Fine day
Castaway
Forrest Gump
The Hurricane