Lotsa news!

There's a big news and budding off of the big news, there are multiple small but important news.. kinda like the "mother" ship and the smaller spacecraft. Didn't get the hint yet?? ;-) Ok Ok.. for all those whose brain is frayed because of the heat/stress/recession(??), H and I are expecting junior in Sept. Yipppee!! Now, I have read a lot of blogs where women put down their feelings, info about progress on the web.... but I feel that it is something personal and awesome to be put out for the world to read.

Now that the big news is taken care of, let's move on to the effects...
I quit my job! Yes, yes... I know what you are thinking.. "In this market?". But hey.. this is far more important to me than to travel close to 2 hrs a day to do a job that was monotonous, where the senior management was difficult to deal with and to top it off, come home tired and unable to rouse myself to cook,clean, pack lunch etc. I have decided to enjoy every moment and pamper myself while the hubby is busy at work and doing his MBA and basically totally occupied.
My mom's coming!! I know that's not a big surprise but then just the thought of my mom coming is enough to send me into excited twitters! (even though she has threatened me with gruesome walking/exercise regimen!)

Since my sister-in-law is also expecting around the same time and we stay in the same city, we are able to compare notes and just get over excited talking about all the happening things!! we've decided to go shop together once the babies are born and leave the hubby's home to do the cooking and taking care of the house! ;-)

Let's see if they rise up to the occassion!!

Earth Hour is here again!!

I am a firm believer that a small gesture goes a long way. Last year, I had observed "Earth Hour", one hour where all the lights in my house are switched off. If nothing, it makes us aware as to how much we are wasting Earth's resources and contributing to climate change. Have you ever wondered why the offices downtown though looking beautifully lit keep on lights all through the night??? It might be an inconvenience to switch on and off but why cant they be switched off for atleast a few hours during midnight??!!


Anyway, this year Earth Hour is being observed on Saturday, March 28th 8.30 p.m-9.30 p.m. So, please set your alarm clocks and cast your votes for action on climate change!!!!

The Satyam Saga

Though most of you might have already seen it, here is a fwd-ed email I got titled "A letter from Satyam employee"... it was really well written.. I liked it.

A lesson in courage, conviction and fighting spirit.

"A letter from Satyam Employee
Dear All,
I (Satyam Employee) am deputed at client location and came across a very interesting conversation in cafeteria yesterday. One of my co-worker, also deputed with the same client through some lesser known two room company, mustered guts to ask me sarcastically in front of entire team, "So, Satyam is gone! What are you guys planning to do now?" In normal circumstances, I have a habit to not to reply to lose talks, but in front of entire team.... I thought I need to fix this guy's thought process. I asked him, as my military training has imbibed in me the habit to fight till last breadth, "Who says Satyam is gone when I am very much alive here and committed to create value on behalf of my company?". He shot back, "Hello Mr., your chairman has resigned, you guys are facing financial turbulence and you still have a face to say that Satyam is not gone!"
At this juncture, I thought of replying to this guy in his own language. I asked him, "Tell me, what will you do and where will you go if our country India was not there?" He was not prepared for this level of thought and asked back, "What a stupid question, How can India be gone, it is a country?" I asked him back, "Country! What makes a country? Land? Economy? Our Prime Minister? Our President? Our Geography? Or the PEOPLE? If our PM resigns, will you say India is gone? If our economy faces a slowdown, will you say India is gone? But yes, if the people of a country are lost for any reason, we will say that country has no meaning. Who cares of vast land of Antarctica today which has just one permanent resident, Father Georgy? Which country does it belongs to? Why does not it have any government? Why does not it have any economy? Or, how many countries were there when humans used to hunt for food in pre-historic times? Countries, Wealth, Infrastructures and booming economies are nothing but creations of efforts of PEOPLE, and they do not have any existence on their own. And the final blow was, "When one man can create Satyam as an organization of 53,000 people, why not 53,000 committed people can rebuild one SATYAM?""

Nice, eh? Hope Satyam makes it through..

Out of retirement

Yup.. am out of retirement and back at work. Now you know why I haven't blogged. I leave home at 7.45-8.00 and am back only by 7.00 p.m!!! Then comes the cooking and then comes the eating and packing for the next day!!!! Once my head hits the pillow, am off to dreamland!!! And 8 hrs of sleep just doesn't seem enough! I have to force myself to get out of bed and get into shower. Speaking of bed, am going to hit the sack right now!! (Yawn)

Thamizh puththaandu vaazhthukkal

To all my fellow thamizhargal, Puththaandu Nal vaazhthukkal. To other Indians from different states, "Happy new year" in your respective languages!!!! I had a fun though tiring time yesterday. Had people over for lunch and for high tea I had about 10 ppl..so, overall fun but I am feeling the effects of it today too! :) So, ppl have a great day!

Earth Hour - A novel effort

I truly appreciate the effort by World Wildlife Fund in taking a stand against climate change. The result of this effort is EARTH HOUR . The "earth hour" is between 8 and 9 p.m tonight (Saturday the 29th). Please switch off all lights and your PC's and help save "some" energy and also make a statement against climate change. Turning the lights off for Earth Hour is a great first step, but if you really want to see a difference, then make Earth Hour part of your everyday life. You need not be without lights, but you can contribute by switching off appliances when they are not in use and switching to energy efficient bulbs. This will help reduce the annual emissions. If done worldwide, this will definitely reduce the effect on climate.

I am sure that you are aware of the melting glaciers and water levels increasing around the world. You have also heard of warmer climates and non-monsoonal rains. This is caused by the climate change for which we humans are solely responsible. We might not feel the worst of it now. But imagine our grand children and great-grand children. They have to deal with the worst of the climate effects. So, lets do our bit and ... power off people!!!!!!!

Being a housewife in the U S of A

Recently, I became a full-fledged house wife. I can assure you that it is definitely not the same as being a house wife in India. Being a house wife in India is a much more exciting prospect. (sigh!) I cannot help but feel jealous of my mom. She had and is still having loads of fun in India. Now that her kids are abroad and she is "free" to do whatever she wants, she has a lot of time to do the thing she loves the most...shopping! Needless to say, when one has a visiting relative from US, the shopping spree is like a craze. Oh! did I forget to add the family functions?? Yup! When you have a family as big as mine (on the dads side anyway), you tend to have at least 15 functions in a year. Sadhaabishekam, shastiabdhapoorthi, seemantham, poo chootal, punyojanam, aayush homam.. the list goes on. This April is my nephews (cousin's son) Aayush Homam. My mom and aunt are busy shopping and having fun with the grandchildren in the family.

Being a housewife here means, getting up as late as i want to (the limit is 9.00 a.m!), doing things as I please and when I please, spending a lot of time on the internet, watching tv, reading late into the night, cooking in the evenings. This was relaxing once I quit my job but now, I am becoming a bit bored. Thanks to my hubby's MBA classes twice a week, he comes home at 10.30 pm!! Now, those 2 days are even more excruciating. I thought of going back to work. But it will be the same old story of being busy the whole week and being tired the weekends and home chores piling up! I want to have a balanced work and home life.. (if there exists one). Working part-time is an option, but being immigrants, we need... the wait-till-you-get-frustrated "GREEN CARD". Without that, I am pretty much stuck. I used to go out shopping whenever I wanted groceries or had to pay bills.. but now, the oil prices have sky-rocketed and cut in to my carefree ways. sigh! After grumbling, I take a look at my hubby getting up early to go to work (sometimes as early as 4.30) and then to his MBA classes and I realize that I have no reason to complain. I am happy that my hubby cares so much about me that he wants me to be a housewife and have a relaxed life!!! Love you too, H! :-)