Technology is getting crazy & Mankind is turning greedy

More than couple of months since I logged my thoughts. I got a mail as well from my friend about any new posts from my end , and I replied saying I am just busy for now with my Diwali Vacation and now post vacation trying hard studying for a exam that's just around the corner.  However some of my communication with my friends and family did not let this gap get wider. Just when I was having lunch this afternoon a strong urge to pen down my thoughts brought me here to write them up sacrificing my afternoon nap;).

So what's that I have got fascinated with , truly honestly, might sound silly too, yes it's the way I got to communicate with my parents, friends and a way to stay in touch round the clock with my dear ones. Gone are the days when distance made a huge difference in  communication.

I remember when I was in college 12 years back, I used to wait in the queue at the telephone booth after 11 p.m and wait for my turn to ring up home. Why such a wait till 11 p.m? Hmm It was that time when STD facility was too expensive and had cut offs like this, i.e from 8.30 a.m to 8.30 p.m full rate after 8.30 p.m half rate and beyond 11 p.m quarter charge…

The frequency of calls used to be once in 2 or 3 days and when sometimes when I used to feel homesick OMG I just used to keep staring at the clock when it would tick 11 p.m to talk leisurely at low cost with my parents.

And on the other hand if I had to hear from my parents, that was difficult and slow too, I really had to wait for a call from our hostel warden when our hostel landline  rings, but that too was a tough chance as we are so many in the hostel and most of the time line used to be busy .

It was during my final year of college, when I got a cell phone and then my parents  could talk to me when needed directly . Free SMS drove the college students crazy and also improved the chats among the close pals.

Then came the phase of my professional life, when I really got a advanced cell phone, easy to operate , several other features in one pack and I need not had to wait for STD cut off rates. Mobile providers did have good plans for STD calls and I was happy with that. Soon mobile took up a very important place in everybody's life that  anyone would feel handicapped without it.

Then with the advanced mobiles came a change in the internet was being accessed, mobile phones were able  to act as modems and  technology brought us internet just on the mobile phones….But we were not satisfied….Internet access charges through mobile was very high and hence could be afforded only incase of emergency.

But now what?? Era of touch technology, and internet and tablets….

With my married life set in I moved away from my parents and friends. Ok I have a phone to hear them when needed or visit a cyber café and even have a video chat…Still it required time and money… I was disappointed sad that I was far away from home...

2G and 3G mobile connections were still expensive and therefore I looked for a cheaper way..

and then broadband connection came on my way, I set up internet at home and after several months since internet is set up at my hometown  I too got to do a video chat when needed with less cost…

What next…Then came the curiosity for WiFi? If there is wifi all time on my mobile then I could be online round the clock with broadband connection at home and my friends/family could just ping when needed...I could get notified with my all time companion mobile :).Why I should I always come to the PC and switch on chat..ah it takes some work..can't I get that on mobile..

With my Smart phone I got that done..and now it was easy to receive chats/pings just on my mobile…a beep on my mobile connects me to my friend or home at least for few mins in case I am busy with cooking or work…

So the days went by like this happy happy…

Now what…My brother being overseas and some of close friends overseas as well I am not able to call them when I want..why expensive again…hence just call them only when needed..

But now with yet another softwares in the last couple of days I got to make international free call/free SMS . Before I used to talk to my brother or friends overseas once on 2 weeks or a month…But now, I am so happy as I could just call them/text them free of cost just with a internet connection and a smart phone….

All these things make me think, with the technology getting crazier, we are getting lazier and our curiosity makes us greedier….Why greedy…

Yes..couple of months back we bought a smart phone which does not have a dual camera..since mobile internet was expensive, we dropped the idea of video call on mobile phones and tried to save money…

But now with all such facilities still I think ah we could have got a dual camera phone and having that I could have just had video call from mobile phone itself..what a changeover??

Not only this, When I see people buy phones like Fashionable clothes..oops…I see that now it's time for a smart phone or tablet in every single man's hand…..There is one tablet in every house...smart phones with most...

And I am as well not so good that I make paid calls when I have a way for free calls….With technology growing at this pace, I am sure most would agree we always look for what's cheaper , freely available and not just satisfied with whatever magical features come in our way…

To conclude I would say, without these healthy greedy needs, technology would not have grown this crazier and faster..Hatsoff and thanks to all the Magicians behind this crazy revolution…

Cheers,

Akshatha

Pride of Joy

Title comes first inline  with thoughts running in my mind then it strikes for me to write up a blog post on the same. So has been with this "Pride of Joy".

After a night out the day before since morning I had been just sleeping whole morning. With no escape from the routine , I had to wake up amidst my sleepy mood and cook something for lunch. It was easy for me to  get started quickly after a nice shower.

However I was running behind schedule and when my husband woke up well before time, I felt oh god…late again preparing lunch :( ..

While fidgeting around so around in the kitchen, managing to set the dining table for lunch late afternoon, I heard my door bell ring…I did not rush or even bother to check who it was, as my husband was very much at the hall. Though I did not go to open or check who is at the door, my mind started guessing, could it be the post sent by my friend?? Ok no issues, I am not going to jump around….for now first I need to serve lunch to my husband….friends next…

Next couple of minutes my husband was at the kitchen handing me over the courier that I expected right…Not showing much interest for my friend's courier, I just kept it aside and went to serve lunch to my husband..what to do ? I have become a complete housewife and what may husband first..rest next…

Since I was hungry too I too joined my husband for lunch. Nevertheless at the background, my mind was curious to see as to which book my friend has couriered and when I could get to open it. Controlling my excitement in front of my husband I quietly had my lunch, however not delaying any longer, I immediately went to open the parcel as soon as I and husband finished our lunch. Normally I clean the table dishes immediately after lunch and then turn around to other tasks/interests.

However this time I went to unwrap the surprise first. Several thoughts while unwrapping the book…Could it be a book written by my friend self? Ah no..I see a Flipkart cover. Hmm seems some book from flipkart..What would it be ? Soon I found this book "I Dare" by Dr.Kiran Bedi…Both myself and my husband were surprised.

Why this friend of mine has gifted me the same book yet again…The real surprise was inside a piece of paper  displayed below…

When I read that he had couriered me a signed copy of the book and when I saw the signature addressed "to akshatha"…..my day was just made over!!

Sure such signed copy of book is priceless, but more than that I was happy to gain such priceless joy of affection from my friend

I just thought what sort of affection this friend has shown for me…True, we were great colleagues at work, exchanged healthy thoughts etc…

However when I think of the fact that 8 months since I moved away from work, shifted completely to a new place, if some friend of mine could think of me…and get me a surprise like this…what more pride of joy could I feel?

If I had met any great icon, I don't think I would have thought about any others….but when I think of this friend, who has spent couple of mins remembering me, getting me something priceless I feel sooooooo proud to have such great friends in my life!!

Sunil, the great pal…the reason behind my pride of joy today, did say he would post me few books of good content in future…he also used to appreciate few qualities of mine he  admired that would indirectly motivate me develop more daring qualities…however today I could feel Sunil lives by his words and definitely made me feel the pride of joy… not because he has gifted me books, but for still motivating me, encouraging me indirectly.

I must admit, I am not a good reader, however since Sunil has shared some good books with me, I started reading little more than before :)

I am so proud of having such friends and thankful for whatever joy shared with me…. For a minute I felt forget about people who don't care about you…it's very truly said we must never compel somebody to be in our life….quotes are easily made and said but difficult to live by and today  after feeling the pride of joy, I am so thankful to Sunil, for he made me really feel very special…Gone were the days when I used to do for my friends…and today when I see my friends doing some thing for me I feel so special, I feel so proud for deserving such joy from a friend….

I felt content and proud for being surrounded by joy!! For the first time my emotions became numb and I calmly grabbed my phone to ring and express my thanks!!

Pride of Joy, not everybody realizes such moment, I am lucky and Thank you so much Sunil…you made my day!!

Cheers,

Akshatha

Being Housewife is not that bad, it's a luxury indeed

Recently I stumbled on a post by Chetan Bhagat, being circulated frequently in Facebook my many. The status update titled "Girls should read and Boys MUST read". I got curious and read it too. However when I read I was disappointed a bit and just ignored as each one has his/her personal view.

But then in the next couple  of days when I saw the same post being shared by many other girls and when I came across one another incident which shared similar rays, I could not just refrain from shouting here "Wake up girls, Being housewife is not that bad, it's a luxury indeed".

It's true every boy looks for or likes to have a ideal Indian wife, which means he expects mainly to have home made food cooked by his wife, seek every single personal attention of care from his wife…What's wrong with such an expectation infact that is love that binds husband and wife more closer and thicker…and we are so by nature ie man to work to run the family and women to nurture the family with love.

Now this does not mean that a housewife is just restricted within the 4 walls and personally attend just her husband all the time and while away her life. 

True, in the modern times, women have been empowered to have good education, go for professional jobs and excel in many fields as compared to the olden times.Gone are the days when women were meant to carry out only household works.  However with this increase in empowerment, I feel modern girls have got carried away with career opportunities, the recognition/rewards it brings in and have forgotten to live the lovely personal life like our ancestors lived.

While I was searching  for a wedding alliance for my brother I was yet again surprised to see, that none of the girls are ready to give up their current job and seek another challenge or move to the next level of life.  Each one wants to stay where she is. Even I did pass by the  same road, means at one point I was not ready to give up my career, leave back  the recognitions I had gained in my field and then move up to the next level of life, ie marriage. I was afraid of re-establishing myself or getting caught behind the walls of family life.

 But I was lucky enough to get educated by my parents as to what is a marriage life and how actually the life partner's are meant for each other and arrive at a right decision.. I did leave my job and got ready to get married. Still  once I left the job, than feeling excited about the wedding, I was most often accompanied by feelings like fear of staying restricted within the 4 walls as a housewife or feeling jobless, missing the comforts of old office, missing old friends, missing financial independence and so on.

But now, not even a year gone by since my wedding, I am a proud housewife already and enjoy living it every single day in fact every single moment. Thanks to my husband for supporting me so much and helping me realize the sweetness of being a housewife. And hence when I read the line in Chetan's post "We may have less hot phulkas, but we will have a better nation" it pinched me a bit.

I am happy making hot phulkas for my husband which in turn keeps my husband happy, and so he never misses to reciprocate my love whenever he gets his chance, be it as simple as cutting few fruits and offering me or taking me out whenever he gets time  and so on together we live a beautiful life.  In fact understanding that I worked as software engineer before marriage and thinking I might get bored or so, he has got all the things that could keep me busy through out the day and help me pursue my possible dreams from home itself.

When I got engaged, one of my friend wished me, congratulations on your promotion. I just wondered how it's a promotion, instead it's kind of demotion and I am going to just sit at home and do some monotonous job, become dependent. No it's not so. I was wrong. It's now when I have understood, playing the role of housewife is the next challenge for every girl.

It gives each one a opportunity to come out of her comfort zone, take over the family responsibility, build a sweet home and also take up other career related challenges in her free time. With one's spouse 's , family support and with the power of growing technology every housewife is empowered to take up online jobs/studies from home, still manage to make hot phulkas and keep husband happy, teach her kids and get them smarter and thereafter create a beautiful world.

However with the modern age, with the growing power of benefits/facilities/recognition/money/rewards ones career brings, people outsource personal jobs like preparing food by self for the family, taking care of the kids to the helpers or elders of the family. This does not build a healthy family in my opinion. Instead it digs many pot holes within the family. There are many cases where the children get mentally disturbed if there is no personal care or by seeing any silly fights between mom and dad. A man does not get to spend time personally with his wife if she keeps running around for job and then working in the house taking care of her family. At one point the working women do get stressed with the house work too, that awaits them upon return from office.

Any working women could definitely feel independent, however at one point or the other has to depend on helpers/family members to take care of her  family. Most importantly she would have no time for self, any personal interests of her choice amidst the routine job/pressure at work/home.

However incase the financial conditions of the family require both husband and wife need to work, then we could not help, but otherwise being a housewife , you have the greatest opportunity to live the life to the fullest with your spouse's support. Yes, you would find time for study , work from home jobs, add personal touch to the family  and still excel higher to create a better world. No worries about losing financial independence, you would have abundant love from your husband and subsequently all your needs would be fulfilled much in advance before you ask for.

At last to conclude, with my experience I would say if every single home in the world is content and happy  with a close knit family, then we already have a better nation, no extra efforts  are required to build the same.

Cheers,

Mrs.Kamath

Outlook upon upcoming webmail service outlook.com

Few days ago I received a mail from my brother, lucky you for you got a email id on your name akshatha@outlook.com.  So what? rather than getting excited I wrote him back, yet another email account, how do I manage and why will I need it.Anyways thank you bro for signing up for a nice account for me.


Couple of days before I read a status update from my friend reading xxx@outlook.com on FB wall, I did not understand and did not bother to question back.


Ok, then came the time when I really had to research on what is this all about, might be I was poor in keeping myself updated with what's latest, however I do read newspaper time to time.


It was then when I stumbled on the article  "Outlook will turn heat on Google: Bhatia " in our daily newspaper.  Subsequently my questions in mind regarding significance of outlook.com email id and my FB update from friend started getting clear.


What next? Time to explore.


Personally when I used to work in a software firm, I had loved using the email client outlook and had always wondered if I could configure the same for my personal id and use it.  Now being a house wife at home, I did configure the same in my free time and was very very happy accessing my emails through the web client. Helped me to stay organized.


Also I had wondered and wished  in the past if there could be one central inbox where I could check all my email accounts without having several browsers open and without several sign ins , all at one place and one sign in….


With the technology is blooming up, what I wondered in the past really happened…oops yes outlook.com one such webmail service catered my needs.  At the outset when I looked at it, it really  looked like another giant service like google+, and I thought ok, now I will not use it for more than one attempt, but I was wrong rather I was happy, as I started using it I was very happy to realize that the focus on "email service" was not lost here.


When Google + boom came in I too was excited to be on Google+, however due to widespread range of services like email, photo integrations, social status updates, video chat very specific to Google accounts, I  got weary over a period of time. Also when I thought I strictly needed to have my friends as well have an account on the same domain to share any pics, updates easily, it started disinteresting me and did not fetch me much value. Consequently I scarcely log into my G+ account.


However outlook.com did not disappoint me much. Has it's own pros and cons, and if the cons are fixed, then it will for sure rule the webmail service…. 


The main feature that fancies any person who is very much into emailing is it's integration with Facebook like I read in times
"Google has Google+, Google Hangout, etc. But it has to do something with its interface.
 It doesn't have an interface that, say, integrates with Facebook.  
 This brings a huge power in easing the communication pace!!




Now my observations so far:


Pros and Cons:


1. Central tool for Web communication: All in one place ie, email + chat + read, write share/store documents
2. Messages aligned in one page easy to scroll through the prior communications
3. Central inbox for various email accounts: Can configure more than one email accounts(which are POP enabled-You can add up to four POP3 accounts to your outlook account) to be viewed at one place.


 With my experience I was able to configure couple of my gmail accounts into this but failed with yahoo and it demanded me to have a paid yahoo account that is normal yahoo account could not be integrated one needed to ensure that you have a paid Yahoo! Mail Plus account. You can only add Yahoo! Mail Plus as a POP3 account to your Outlook account if you have a paid Yahoo! Mail Plus account.


P.S I was really wondering after reading this how many such paid email account users would be available when there are so many free email web servers available....I really think and curious to explore now on what Yahoo plus brings with a paid email account :)


On the cons side of this feature I got little disappointed when I figured out that


1.  the sync of other email ie the refresh happens every 30 minutes , and in this fasting moving world,if any email is going be to be delivered to your inbox with a delay of 30 mins rather than instant diwnload to your inbox, it might be crucial for any business needs/matters
2. And as far as I have used refreshes only when you are logged in else not
3. In case you have a offline outlook client on your desktop or laptop and if you have configured personal email accounts , then the sync is not consistent, ie for me my mails started getting downloaded onto the outlook that was on the web and the sync at my desktop outlook became inconsistent although it was connecting well with the email server. I am not sure if outlook could support multiple client configurations for a single account


4. Another featured that fancied me a lot - Facebook integration ie
1.  once you import the contacts to outlook from Facebook, you could receive their updates just on the side bar ..ie when you receive a email from your buddy, while you are reading the email, on the side bar you could just view what's his status update.
Sometimes with Facebook window open on my PC, when I normally scroll to the tab to view status updates from friends I get distracted a lot with other videos/articles shared by other friends may not that important to read at that time…and so many times this distraction has eaten up my time delaying my subsequent activities…however here your focus is very much on email and as a add on you get to read just the status update from just one friend at a time…no scope for distraction..nice nice from my view…


2. However with the Chat feature (need to click on the smiley at the top) I see a Cons: You do have option to chat with FB friends from within outlook in your free time, but you need a explicit click within the message box to see who all are available (this is good to keep away distractions for people like me, however for some it might be really nice to see the list of available members on the go and get started with a chat with a rare friend who is noticed online)



5. Next, gone are the days when you really had to ask and maintain a list of contacts - Contacts integrations is awesome as well ie When u move to people tab, you could write on their wall or write personalized email message and so on just on a click at the respective contact infos.
 There was a time when I used to open my FB account look up for my friend's wall, check for the email info and then copy paste into my address and email…but now no worries, you are within outlook, you have imported contacts from various email/social networking account you..just type in their and you see a magic, the email Id appears…so convenient!!

Click on the needed mode of communicating that is messaging or emailing and get going swiftly with you texts.


6. Not very special or great thought another feature you have is the Automatic reminder mails about the friend's birthday maintained in the calendar or FB accounts, you do need any special app for maintaining any birthday calendar…if the info is maintained in social networking profiles, then you get reminded about the same directly at your inbox. 
7. Yet another feature that grabbed my attention: Quick view option is really good, you could easily search for docs + photos, ie  mails are categorized and organized at one location based on the documents+ photos they carry with them, eases your search…ie the effort to search for any specific doc is really less and no worries if you forgot the doc name, we could simply browse them under quick view docs/pics category 



8. Central searches across mail folders: Sometimes I forget or get confused to which email account was a particular matter mailed to me, not to worry anymore if you have your email accounts integrated centrally with outlook then just type in for search once and all your emails in various outlook email accounts would  searched and fetched quickly
9. Calendar is great: holidays + birthdays easily visible marked in various colours, with cake icons for birthdays and weather information on the live days





 however the cons I see here is the display page looks something out of application as it carries a different theme :(…at first look this might be ugly, but once the value of it is know, your mind is ready to accept the same and I found it  little difficult to get back to my inbox from the new window.


After a while I found that one needs to click on the hotmail button in top to get into the inbox, Also clicking on People or Calendar tab takes you to different tabs…and too many tabs for the same might be confusing/annoying at times


  
Experience on the go now :), Just when I switched back to my outlook box I noticed 2 notification for a chat message from friend..nice but I missed to respond back as I was busy typing this post…now pro here saved me from my distraction, without any sound notification


Cons however if was not busy with some important task then notification with sound is good as well, I could have a got a break writing this post, had a chat and resumed back…Sure every service comes with it's own pros and cons, however I have just tried to record my outlook over outlook.com webmail service…

Skype needs to be integrated yet, however others like twitter, linkedin are already available. There are many more valuable feature like storage on the web Skydrive, where you could store, edit and share some docs on the go..I am yet to explore them and should be able to add in more details here when I use them.


Might be a lengthy post but I hope it helps the novice outlook.com users


To conclude I would say although outlook.com comes with such varied nice to see features I am happy to use it only if my other email accounts sync quickly and not refresh only every 30 mins.


P.S Mentioned above are just my viewpoints on outlook, I am neither a fan follower of outlook nor a antagonist of google,  both have their own + and -,
With outlook I am happy with email features and when it comes to google I am just stunned with their 3 wonderful creations the Giant Search,Blogger and Android…therefore G+ lovers not to get offended with my sad experience with Google+


After all I did seek the help of google to publish this blog post :)


Acknowledgements:


10. Firstly thanks to my brother for the account akshatha@outlook.com  (readers feel free to share with me their experience and any fixed features/solutions to problems here I am not aware of)
11. My husband for facilitating me with such a working/learning environment at home
12. Div sir for suggesting me to add some tech posts to my blog
13. Hats off to the developers behind the development of outlook.com


Cheers,
Akshatha

A Belief - Experiencing Godly Blissful Birthday

First birthday after wedding arriving at its own pace. Several thoughts running in the mind couple of  weeks before it’s arrival... like how is it going to be...How should I prepare myself for it.... in my new home...

Will there be surprises...Am I expecting too much...no no no..now I am a married woman..no more freaky celebrations as with friends during my spinsterhood....

it’s just going to be me and my husband..... Luckily it’s a weekly off for my husband..still what...is it going to be a normal day or a special day...ah...

I tried to guard my mind away from these thoughts still no use...such thoughts were stepping in time to time...however I was very clear I am not going to give any importance to such silly thoughts any more, what that means no expectation of any surprise, no expectation of any calls, no worries if few of my close pals have forgotten to wish and so on.

Such a feel, calmness was very much sublime under the armor of a married woman.

And so on I felt I was gradually transforming into a woman from the state of a young crazy girl.

Then started coming the duties of being a married woman. The month being Sharava considered a very auspicious month, I had to get started with my first Choodi Pooja that’s normally offered to Tulasi plant by all married women belonging to Konkani brahmin community.

What this means, one needs to offer Poojas to Tulasi on Friday and Sunday the entire month, making choodis, prasadas and exchanging choodis with other married women, the elders and seek their blessings.

For making Choodi , one needed to get some Flowers, few wild grasses as main particles and few other sacred decorative items and tie them as a bundle and offer to lord Tulasi.

More on Choodi pooja here : http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=50718

Now that I live in a township, where at first place I did not have a tulasi plant at home, flowers were not easily available in market as in bengaluru, and  many such items needed for the pooja were not easily available and also could be that I was lazy I gave up the thought of making any effort to perform the Special choodi pooja at home.

Also since it was my first choodi pooja after wedding, as per the tradition, I should have got started with the same in a grand manner either at my in-laws place or my home. Since we stayed far away from both the homes, our parents as well did not force us to come either for performing the same traditionally.

For me who believes just in praying truly to God for few minutes daily, not giving much importance to such auspicious duties did not matter at all until my parents unknowingly made me realize how important and sacred it was to pray God as well with some extra efforts when possible....

Yes, although we did not travel home for the small pooja, when days were nearing for the day Choodi pooja had to get started, my mom and my aunt started calling me very often reminding about my duties and educating me over phone as to how as a married woman I needed to perform choodi pooja, pay devotion to God, respect to elders and seek their blessings. Initially I got annoyed little with the calls and ignored them as well being lazy, but when I discovered the joy of offering such pooja the entire month in my mom and aunts, I could not stop myself  from understanding and learning more about choodi pooja...

When I learnt choodi pooja symbolizes the feelings of woman being complete in her married life, I could not refrain any further.

Soon I sought my husband’s help for getting the needed items home for pooja...The day I decided  to perform the pooja, I was really surprised to see my husband get Tulasi plant home that night itself on his return back home from office.

For a minute I did think, if you think it is not possible, it is not possible for sure. That is if your mind cup is full, you would for sure have no space to think about the feasible possibilities.

Next couple of days the way my pooja room got ready for the pooja ignited me even more spiritually. What if the flowers were not easily available in the market, I did get some artificial mini garlands home for decoration and I started feeling slowly the grace of God on us.

I believe very much in God and for sure it is him who made me do all these and to my surprise, my eyes did spot suddenly that the township was flooded with wild grasses around which was the main substance required for choodi pooja....

The moment tulasi came home, I felt even the little negative energy prevailing at home was out in no time. Here I point the balcony at the back of our house close to our kitchen that was occupied by Masakalis and family as in most of the big buidlings, consequently dirty with their shits all around. Although this was unpleasant I had not tried to get rid of the pigeon family.Also since it was at the back of the house and was not required much, it remained the shed for doves, cutting away some beauty of our house.

However when tulasi plant came home, it was required to keep it a airy place with less but considerable sunlight.

Concidentally one of the following days  we had sudden unexpected long power cut, feeling very suffocated inside, I and my hubby cleaned the balcony just like that which then became the ideal place for Tulasi and that's when Tulasi plant started growing very well and made it's place in our house.....

To top all these when it was THE DAY for me when Choodi pooja also had to get started, I felt so divine starting my day with Tulasi pooja, seeking blessing from my husband. That moment when I fell on my husband's feet and he laid his hand on my head to bless, I felt very much complete as a married woman and blessed by God.

The day did follow then with lot many calls from loved ones, going to temple and a delicious special lunch with my husband at a restaurant near by...

As a double dhamaka ie birthday gift + first choodi pooja gift, my husband did delight  me with a lovely gift of my choice and for sure not any better gift from my bro than the wonderful wish with loads of affection...

The day was truly Godly with Tulasi pooja setting in on my birtday and making it very blissful.

Without God’s interest and blessings the day would not have been so spiritual, beautiful and joyful..that’s this crazy lazy mind’s – “A Belief - Experiencing Godly Blissful birthday”

Thanks to all my friends and family members for wishing me, blessing me and adding more sweetness to my joy!!

It's been 2 weeks now, since choodi pooja is being celebrated with lots of devotion and joy, and as per my mom's advise finally we had Tulasi plant at our house after 6 months of our married life, by which time we had bought all the essential household items but had forgotten Tulasi!!

When time comes and God's grace is on us, all good happens automatically!!

Above experience might sound silly for few but a strong belief for me!!

Cheers,

Akshatha 

This is how you cook horribly

a quarter since the crazy lazy mind got married and is enjoying the new role of managing the house hold stuff....Have always wondered during my college days as in how the cooks in our mess used to spoil the taste of any tasty vegetable....

When I learnt cooking during the initial stages itself crazy lazy mind learnt that if the basic ingredients are added in right proportion and the vegetable in cooked in simple basic way there is nothing that it's taste could be spoilt......still how were these hostel cooks spoiling the taste of such tasty vegetables :( ..bad days....

however later i thought might be mass cooking in the hostel mess could be one of the culprit...and the thoughts or the investigation behind bad cooking just stopped there.....and crazy lazy mind somehow lived over bad food :(:(....

But now after getting into full time cooking, over a quarter, finally the crazy lazy mind discovered the mystery behind cooking horribly and spoiling out the taste of any good tasty vegetable.....

As is the case always and in any case "Experience" could be the best teacher, experience let crazy lazy mind as well turn down the mystery behind bad cooking....

3 months after wedding crazy lazy mind heard her parents are going to visit...what gush of joy rushed...uff....count down started...The day came and my parents arrived...how much happiness...i had cooked my dad's sis and mom's favourite dishes for dinner....since then ....oops..how fast did the time fly...how many trips did we do....how many places did we visit...how much fun and so on.......alas the day for the return journey as well came I went with my husband to drop them at the airport....and soon returned as well...

back at home same routine follows...but memories don't stop flowing in front of you...yes i had send my husband to office and pack lunch box.....although my husband was kind I did not wanted him to eat at the canteen and therefore proceeded to the kitchen to cook.....I should have thought well before cooking if I would be able to cook good food with a weak sober mind...

had picked up good vegetable and started with basic ingredients to cook a simple dish.....but whereever i turned all i could see and feel is about my days at home with mom and sis....since mom had taken over the cooking crazy lazy mind had almost forgotten how to cook :(....

nothing stopped...mind went with its thoughts..however my hands started pouring the needed ingredients and cooking in simple form...15-20 mins past it was almost time for my husband to leave to office and luckily the veggie had got cooked but taste ahhhhhhhhhhhh.....what happened the crazy lazy mind was in awe....

Was the vegetable bad not....what did i do??????normally i used to cook this dish well what happened now....oops it turned out so spicyyyyyyyyy..what to add....ok let me add some sugar to bring down the spice......add some water as well to make it light :(...my bad...the vegetable got over cooked....what did the simple dish turn out into...a dry dish ? or a curry or pasta what not all in a mess...

this is when the crazy lazy mind aha...this is how you could cook even a nice vegetable bad and spoil it's taste....ha ha..may be the hostel cooks as well were under some strong thoughts or confused state while cooking but had to move on with their routine and carry out the regular jobs irrespective of the good, bad irritating or frustrating thoughts they had....

good feelings good food....sad feelings irritating thoughts bad cooking, crazy ideas to fix them up and ultimately bad food :)...

lesson learnt don't ever dare to cook when you are down and try to keep up your routine work...it is ok at times to let the routine break and eat out :D:D...

that's the first time ever crazy lazy mind could not even eat little food cooked by self...until that day it was all in praise for self :):)...what a day what a lesson :):)

ultimately i advised my husband to dump the food i cooked, in case he also found it horrible...

yes and my husband did grab some food from his friend's box for dinner :(.......

Cheers,
Akshatha

Just Married...............

Just a while ago while waiting outside a exam centre for my husband to return from his exam, a thought flashed this crazy lazy mind to share about how it feels to be “Just Married”.....Being married for 2 months now, I think at times....should I or do I really feel “Just Married”....

What’s this “Just Married” feeling...why am I sitting and writing about it...it is beautiful...what sort of feeling is it...Crazy mind felt it’s magical...why???

There have been times when I have wondered about the behaviors or the just married couples....felt it was filmy or even kind of weird... As it is true that you have to me in a customer’s shoe to understand the issue rightly...so is the case with this magical feeling...You have to be just married to enjoy the feelings of being “Just married”...

Now I am not sure how long is this period of “Just” married is valid.....but from the experience so far....I could say for certain that....As long as there is a beautiful romantic life flowing between you and your spouse, I think this period..”just” would flow forever...

Crazy lazy mind has felt shy many times while experiencing such feelings..however they have been so magical and beautiful that has made me come forward and share the experience........

What’s this “just married” feeling? May be this is what my friends used to describe to me as a “Spark” that flashes in a lover’s mind when he or she sees or even thinks about his or her life partner.....mine being arranged marriage I wondered many times...if this so called would get ignited just like that just after your marriage.....

and what now after marriage.....yesssssss..tha crazy lazy minds accepts the sparkology and whole heartedly describes self as a “Magical feeling that ignites your mind suddenly making your heart beat faster whenever you think or see or just when your life partner is beside you”....

why magical...as it is sudden and beautiful that one get to experience just after marriage....So here are some of crazy lazy mind’s “Just Married” feelings.......

First and formost...whenever your spouse is beside either talking to somebody or traveling with you....or even standing at a distance closer to you and doing something....your eyes crave to catch a full sight of your spouse or grab his/her attention towards self...how much ever you try to control ..the eyes would still flow into the direction where your spouse is ...and for sure with increased heart rate.....

Next when your spouse is out for work during the time of arrival..no matter what you are doing....or engaged with...be it watching even your favorite start on TV or talking to mom/very close pal over phone...your legs automatically tens to get pulled towards balcony and start waiting for his arrival......this was very filmy for crazy lazy mind before wedding but now after getting the mrs crown and experiencing such feelings in real it’s just getting crazier and crazier.......Just one minute beyond the expected time of arrival if your eyes fail to catch sight of his arrival...it’s time for the hands and fingers to swiftly pick up the phone and dial in the number to see where he is....

If you observe even deeper...during this whole waiting process...you are already waiting 10 mins before the expected time of arrival and meanwhile the way your eyes bounce back and forth between the road and the clock...and the way your mind gets irritated to hear any ring at your landline.....the whole feeling is simply awesome....lucky me to experience it and at the same time sorry to all my well wishers whose calls at times have driven me crazy...when they arrive just right at the time I used to wait for my husband to return home ;-)....

Next coming to the most important aspect...ie caring for each other.......uffff,,,,crazy mind wanted to cook real good food every day with varieties......does not matter you know cooking already or not....The “Just Married” feeling will automatically help you master the culinary art in no time.....

Now in case of Crazy lazy mind I was even luckier to have a friend by name joy ...who always spreads joy around everybody and me...and this time the joy came in disguise of a “Cookbook” ....What a wedding gift!!...thank you joy!! for it not only helped me in cooking some of my husband’s favorite recipes, also eased and increased the joy of cooking it me....

Firstly the “Just married” feeling itself is a great source of energy booster and secondly the small small compliments or the appreciations (for the food you cook) that you receive from your spouse just after you are married keeps you highly charged and motivated to cook more and more good food for your love....

not to be surprised...the “Just married” feeling does not spare your spouse with just small compliments or appreciations.....instead surprises you with special gifts from your spouse in return......

Crazy lazy mind went crazier stacking up it’s favorite chocolates everyday as return gifts........

Not to leave your stomach and taste buds....crazy lazy mind has some words of praise of them as well...who really show good patience “just after you are married” to wait calmly until your spouse returns from work and then get a taste of the food.....

It is magical for each one of us to not to feel hungry or even forget about hunger and wait no matter how long for you spouse to return from any work, join and then dine together....

"Just married? feeling also teaches each one some amount of discipline.....Although I was never trained under any hotel management programs, every time I server food to my husband crazy lazy mind used to try and arrange the dishes prior in a neat manner at the dining table well before time and try to make a good presentation........

As well you are very keen in keeping the ambience at home very clean and attractive just after your wedding life has started and thereafter wait for compliments from your spouse.

Moving on, before wedding crazy lazy mind used to complain about talking longer hours over the phone and also wonder what’s there to really talk to each other every day...but now.....as a “Just married” couple....craves to hear/update her husband every one hour over phone...isn’t this magical?????

Feeling little shy to express the next one but however can’t afford to miss the most significant “just married” couple feeling....Wherever you go wither by walk or travel in a vehicle.....as a “Just married” couple you would always wish to hold hands or lean on each other’s shoulder..that’s so beautiful and brings a truly bonded feeling amidst the couple.....so so...even when I lean on my husband’s shoulder during any travel the feeling that I get when he pats on my head simply makes crazy lazy mind jump even crazier.......

Lastly....for the “feminine attitude”....being “just married” feeling demands you to look or ask for compliments every time you dress up and also after your spouse tastes any food cooked by you...be it just a cup of coffee or even when you dress up to go out for a casual walk....see how crazily this “Just married” feeling could make one behave.......

Crazy lazy mind is really surprised for it is in the middle of such vibrant experience rendered by the “just married” shockwave........

What a feeling...feeli it and live each moment sharing loads and loads of happiness with each other....

Hope this crazy lazy mind has not bored you with such a long post...and most would agree to what I have experienced and shared so far.....if not at least I believe this serves as a very good reference for all the “just married” man as in give a hand in understanding what kind of “just married” feelings their spouse could experience and most importantly what they really would expect out of this “Just married” syndrome!!

Sure married life is a beautiful phase in each ones life!!

Wishing each one stumbling on this post a great and happy married life!!

Signing off for now............

Mrs.Akshatha Kamath (Just 2 months old ;-))

Starting over again

...............thinking blinking thinking...wondering over and over...thinking what to do..where to start with and how to move on...so many thoughts in mind but nothing in action yet....why....has the mind become lazy again.....yeah..sounds so...but want to become effective as well...

thanks to economictimes for posting a very nice article.....that helped me resume back...hope soon the lazy mind becomes effective again...the article goes like this........applies at anytime in your life...

Your once-thriving career has hit a roadblock. Well, you're not alone. But with the right moves, it can be overcome. Sreeradha D Basu suggests how.

1) Look Within: Any reinvention requires reflection. "The fact that your career is stagnant means you're not doing all that you can do or could have done," says Ronesh Puri, MD of Executive Access.

2) Create New Flows: It's important to create new inflows and outflows, says Milind Sarwate, group CFO & CHRO, Marico. Inflows are capabilities that could be leveraged by the organisation. Outflows are roles that should no longer be played.

3) Learn to Unlearn: "Many times, the changing environment makes our old strengths irrelevant. However, we keep playing to them. This drains energy, while not creating value for the individual or the organisation," says Sarwate.

4) Analyse Competition: It's important to know what others are doing right. And judge where you may be going wrong. "There was a time when my career was completely stagnant. I studied the performers, played to my strengths, did things differently. It took time but I was back in the game," says banking executive S Lahiri.

5) Get a Mentor: Identify someone experienced and reliable outside the organisation who you can trust. "It should be someone who can help you focus, discipline you and show you the way," says Puri of Executive Access.

In the news paper there was a very good example cited under the section of learn to unlearn....that caught this lazy mind's attention and that is...

"Learn to re-invent yourself". For instance in the entertainment sector, the actors are continuously reinventing themselves and their character...

I would say that's a beautiful example...it did inspire me and made me think a lot...true that we are fan of lot many celebrities in the entertainment sector, but rarely we thought about the efforts behind such fantastic performances...

Very true that they re-invent themselves everytime with new character..and there goes behind lot of time and energy to learn unlearn and re-invent....

therefore have patience, learn, unlearn and enjoy re-inventing various characters hidden within self....

keep rocking never get lazy and stay behind!!

Cheers,

Akshatha