Sunday, August 28, 2011

Life in the U.S - Without Electricity!!

The Hurricane Irene passed by the East Coast of the United States today. We live in the East. As a precautionary measure Electricity was shut down in the states to be affected. Like every Sunday we woke up by 8.00 and found that the power was already cut. A south Indian can manage without food but not without Coffee. As a typical south Indian I got so addicted to coffee. Today I had to be satisfied with Water for my stove is electric too :-( . Munching the bread and Jam, was thinking what I should be doing today. Sunday mornings would usually be very busy on calls to family and friends in India. Today there was no Internet Service and hence no Vonage facility (Company that provides VOIP facility). Thanks to AT & T, that we could at least call our parents to inform that we were safe.
While I was planning to rearrange the dress shelf (which I did only two weeks before), watched my husband staring at the lashing rain through the window. He is a guy who will spend all the time browsing Internet or watching T.V. He became very restless not knowing what he should do. I dismissed my housekeeping plans and invited him to play cards. Without another option to think he agreed and we played cards for sometime.
Lunch happened to be another disappointment. Mani had asked me to prepare briyani, but had to manage with left over rice :-). Short nap on Sunday turned out to longer hours of sleep.
In the evening while we were playing cards again, we discussed on how addicted we were to the Internet and T.V. in the U.S. The environment at home was completely different. The Sounds of Music, Movies or News will be always heard in the house. Today we experienced a lot of silence. We listened to our talks to and giggles without any accompanying sound from T.V. It felt strange but felt very good.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Victims on the Road

"OMG, what is this guy doing?"
"Lazy old man, going on 40 mph in a road with 45 mph speed limit"
"Hate these school buses, moving like a buffalo"
"**** Man, he is sucha freak"
"Crazy girls, they don't yield at all"

I am sure you would have stated all these if you drive or heard these if you are a not into driving yet. In a day, how many such fellow drivers fall victims of our restlessness?
Fortunately, most of the times they don't hear what we scold though they can understand our impatience. Of course, we are being scolded by other drivers too. How pleasant a drive would be when we try to have some patience?

Calm through Art

Naan(I) When I studied 11th, amma asked me if I wanted to study architecture. I drew a straight line and she said, “Ok forget it”.  Choosing...