Seaside Bliss ...

"There's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away."  --  Sarah Kay 

Every time I stand in front of the ocean , I feel happy , lively and  peaceful. I am never bored here.... I was @ La Jolla Coves in San Diego, on Sunday morning. I stayed hours and hours watching the waves come and go. The weather was so good , cool and comfortable . These birds kept me company. The sea lions/seals often crawled to the shore ,stretched out  on the nearby rocks for sometime and left back to the ocean. The breeze carried the refreshing smell of the sea. Lot of surfers were seen around the bay . And lot of boats ... But still the sea was calm and harmonious..

    

Highlight of July 4th Holiday Weekend

# USS Midway CV-41 Aircraft Carrier    # Amazing Engineering of Old Times    # Incredible Struggle Stories of  Sailors   # Naval Aviation Museum   # Adventurous History of the Ship    # Wars fought with pride   # America's longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century     # View from the Flight Control Room of the Ship  # Had a wonderful evening in the ship

The 'Street Of Memories' Puzzle

I bought a 500 pc jigsaw puzzle [Buffalo Games] from Barnes & Noble on Saturday. The puzzle poster was really amazing and I am very fond of solving jigsaw puzzles. It took me four whole days to figure out the right pieces and right place to fill in each piece, to complete the picture. In between I lost one piece but searched & found the missing piece. 

Feeling accomplished :) Long time since I did a good puzzle.. #Lot of brain activity for four days #Next time a bigger 1000 pc one.

Flambeau

 **Beautifulllllll Candles**    Never saw these kind of candles anywhere else, other than few tourist spots.... # Sedona Candle Gallery .... # They claim that these are hand carved & custom made candles...The owl & the fairies , scorpions & centipede , rabbits & roses.....

   

The Cavern Game Level - 5

This was my first caving adventure & this is where it all began ! 

** Sorry about the pictures. I took these from the website , we couldn't risk losing our own mobile/camera inside the dark cave.

Robin and myself were visiting our two best friends in San Jose for the long weekend. The boys are fond of adventures and they came up with the idea of Visiting the California Caverns in Cave City. I did not know that they had booked for the Level - 5 Middle Earth expedition , until the caving day. I was not aware of how difficult the adventure scale : 5 would be. I tried my best to convince all three of them that this caving is not meant for us , as I happened to watch the videos and pictures on their website . But they were all determined and excited . I had this feeling that I am not physically strong enough for spelunking , crawling or strenuous exercise inside the dark and haunted cave. But I din't want to disappoint them, so I decided to tag along. 

We got there by 11 am and had a talk with our guide about few preparatory tips before we start. We had to sign the caving waivers. They provided us with coveralls, helmet with a flash light , gloves and shoes.  We were all looking weird in those already muddy clothes . Our guide advised us that it is wet, humid and muddy inside the dark cave and warned us that after a particular point, we can come out only through final exit of the cave and no retreat is possible. I could feel the adrenaline rush in me , but I decided to go ahead .   And we were all set !  

We walked through the woods for 10 minutes and reached the entrance to the cave adventure [see picture above]. It was a small opening and I couldn't picture myself spelunking in through that hollow, but i somehow did. It was pitch dark inside and we could hardly see each other. I was relieved that I wasn't claustrophobic. We were accompanied by five other experienced cavers , who were here for the second time. My friend gave me directions as I was crawling through the clay covered tract between rocks to a zone that resembled a 'bookshelf' . Everyone knew that this is my first time caving and I was scared, slow and very careful & vigilant about each and every steep step I took to descend through the slippery mud. I had to tilt myself and fit into the deep and dark passage, not knowing what it was like on the other side. Then came the 'meat grinder' as the guide called it, where only one person at a time can crawl with the stomach and reach the end of a tunnel like passage. Crawling through that small diameter was tight and painful.

We navigated to a bottle necked cave pit called 'womb room' where only 5 to 6 people could be accommodated at a time and its a small closed room . We had to pull ourselves up from there to continue our adventure. Even though I was stressed and wary, I noticed the incredibly beautiful formations inside the cave, as we advanced to the next zone. 

I had a very bad headache when I saw a small steel bridge , under which was watery clay. Suddenly I felt that I would never cross this , because there was just a rope to hold on and the bridge was shaky. I could hear the water dripping from the formations to the small stagnant pond beneath the bridge. At this point I somehow wanted to reach the final exit of the cave, so I did not waste any time thinking , just dragged myself through the bridge with all the strength i had. My heart was beating very fast and I did not look down.  

There was an underground lake that was unbelievable and we had to cross to the rock across the river to continue our journey. The water in the lake was icy cold and my hands froze when i touched the water while we were on the boat. The clay in the cave was very sticky and whenever I stopped for a minute to wait for my friend, I found my legs buried in the gluey clay, which was very frightening. We reached to a narrow region of the cave where there was water up to 5 feet. I almost drowned in the water while crossing it .

As soon as I stepped into the freezing cold water , I couldn't touch the floor, panicked and lost balance, then finally my husband had to give me a hand to get to the other side. And now the coveralls got wet, it was quite uncomfortable and cold , to move through the heavy & more sticky clay. In spite of all the discomfort, there was a smile on our faces, that we made it till here. 

Our guide alerted us that we are moving to the most difficult exercise of this caving expedition. It was a thin, shaky ladder about seventy feet high which leads to the exit of the cave. I was frightened to see the height of the ladder . I had slight fear of heights , moreover i was very tired & weak after all this time. 

I knew if I looked back or down , I would definitely fall down. Just sent a silent request to God for courage, and ascended the ladder, thinking about going home. I went up slowly and carefully , all the ladder rails were slippery and sticky , I did not look down, as I was already feeling little dizzy and visibility was very low. Our guide told us that he could see sunlight and that he was almost near the exit. Then I hurried and reached the top of the ladder and landed on a dry floor . 

Finally sunlight.... smiles......I did it! I checked the time on my watch and it was 5 o'clock in the evening. We waited near the exit till the entire team came out, took a group picture, and thanked our guide . 

It was a proud moment, a fun filled challenging exercise and a very memorable trip.... 

Garden Feast for The Monarchs

                                           

 #Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale   # Butterflies feeding on Apples   # Awesome 3D movie on Monarch Butterfly migration and lifecycle   # Adult butterfly emergence from the chrysalis  # Conservatory with thousands of butterflies around me  # Love them as long as they are nowhere near me :)

Summer In Phoenix

Summer is the most dreadful time of the year in Arizona. Four months of scorching heat and blazing sun... Mostly everyone prefers to stay at home and even weekends we hesitate to make plans, as temperature goes up to 114 or 116 degree Fahrenheit. Sun rises early and sets late, which gives me very less time to sleep. Every time I go out , I get headache and eye discomfort , then the rest of the day is gone. The very thought of getting into a car during the peak daytime, makes me uneasy. As soon as I get outside the apartment , there is a burning feel on the exposed skin , even though I apply layers and layers of sunscreen. Even holding an umbrella doesn't help. Everywhere I see people sipping cold water and other drinks, even though not thirsty, otherwise dehydration is sure to cause health issues. I have seen pets trying hard to walk through the heated pavements. I don't see more than one or two flying creatures outside during summer. I hate to see the 'excessive heat warning' alert on my mobile from the weather app. Moreover, shopping and hangouts with friends becomes less frequent. Good time to start watching a series of tv shows or read books/blogs to kill time. Forget about camping/hiking and other adventures.

I don't think there's any other place in US where people dislike summer so much. Every day I wish the next day would be better. Though summer gives me a hard time , I  love this place. Eight months of relishing and pleasant days in Arizona is like a gift for adhering to the rules of summer. 

Have a great day all.... 

Visual Proof of our Rotating Planet

# The Foucault pendulum [pronounced foo-koh]

I visited the San Diego Natural History Museum recently and came across 'The Foucault Pendulum' experiment that demonstrated proof of Earth's rotation . I waited , along with dozens of others, for few minutes near the apparatus to see one wooden block fall down, as the pendulum oscillated in a vertical plane. The pendulum completed the circle in 24 hours and by the end of the day all the blocks would be down. This was the most interesting demonstration in the museum. Later that day, I had a detailed reading from Google on how the whole experiment works and its history. #Proud of Physics 

The Bird Pose

The Curious bird!!   Each time I took the scenic images, I was wondering why this bird was staring at my camera . It was watching me click pictures for sometime, so I thought of capturing the bird on my camera . It was a perfect pose...  After the click, the bird flew away .

A Rewind of the past 10 years....

To be posted long back, dint feel like publishing this one ... But publishing this draft now in 2013.. 

Today: January 1st, 2011, the start of a new decade...

Almost an year ,since i had posted on my blog...i would put the blame on the fast flying TIME, which had transformed me from a lazy student to a busy techie...But today i decided to spare some time here on my blog...So here came another new year, a new decade began...Looking back at the past decade,i really doubt if i had actually gone through all those 3653 days or missed out a few days..It was indeed an amazing decade, having given me a constant supply of excitement and energy , to become an independant induvidual, preparing me to define rules for my life and thus being a helping hand, leading me through the youthful age.. I was just 14, when i celebrated the new year 2000...why 2011 so soon....:)The past decade was a remarkable period in my life...

It had given me knowledge, degree, career, good friends, money and love from all dear and near ones, though i lost a few special people forever . But i believe in heaven , where they are happy and comforted, praying for me... Life is a right mix of joy and sorrow. Out of the 3653 days, each day made its own contribution with the new habits, new challenges, new faces and all the more hope and effort for the upcoming days....Each day ,each hour, each moment was a new experience, understanding and realizing the essence of life.

I just looked around, what an enormous change i had witnessed in the past few years... There were'nt so many buildings, shopping complexes, food outlets, beauty parlours, educational institutions, n* hotels(n= 3,5,7...),vehicles, fitness centres, hospitals... so on goes the list of things which my eyes could hardly find on the roadside ,ten years back... lot of vacant land and greenary all around....Choices we had towards anything and everything were limited...Roads and markets were seen crowded only during festive seasons... Traffic jam was a symbol of a nearby school or college ,since the roads were narrow...Very few people could afford a computer , a mobile phone or an mp3 player...Opportunities did not knock at our doors so often...All this was just the material world.....But developments had fast approached and everything around changed in a few magical years. Go on.... More things yet to appear and vanish....

FRIENDLY COMPUTING!!!!

Coding is a familiar term to professionals especially software engineers. But is it an unfriendly term??..I dont want to make any wierd comments on 'coding' since its a part of my career too...Generally speaking, youngsters are fond of computers but majority of them are scared of Coding...Untill i completed my college ,i too had a misconception that Coding is a group event...an out of order scenario....many human brains struggling behind an entire functional application...There are different phases in developing a Software application:: Scope clarification,Requirement specification,planning and designing, Coding, validation ,integration, testing,debugging and deployment...Sharing Ideas and Group effort ,ultimately ends up in a deliverable ,functional end-product.. But the joyful programming phase will never be back... Things turning more serious..once upon a time,we started writing programs by debugging an empty file... :) ..its high time ....Rejuvenate your brain , develop a software application by yourself ....Be happy when u could do a small application alone and feel proud "this is my code"...Thats the spirit....
There's an old saying...Computers are like Old testaments, they show no mercy on us....i dont fully agree with it.A userfriendly computer first requires a friendly user.If so, they deliver outputs that we desire, otherwise display strange erroneous signals on the screen,making the users feel uneasy.its like..They do what we desire if we do what they desire...Skills of the users must be tuned to the level of computers intelligence.Not even a single punctuation or token misplaced, will be forgiven. Ego of an intelligent machine or wat??? Nope.....its been programmed to be a perfectionist may be.... When Bugs appear, why worry?'Thats a bug,its a feature..' hehe!!!We,humans are more intelligent,Hence we fix it.Computers make more accurate mistakes ,then why do they act wierd if we make silly mistakes... :( We are the masters ...we give inputs...they wont know even if we lie....I have often come across a joke- 'Try to program a document, not to document a program'....hehe!!This way the computing machine is being friendly with us.... 'Hit any key to continue' is an offer computers make to their friends....But still cant get control of it.. we make mistakes, but hardly can we compromise it... but they get wrong inputs means, they will give u clue on the wrong inputs fed to them and its just a matter of Ctrl+Z ......All back into the right track...........Ctrl+S saves everything even though its a 1000 page long document.....Ctrl+X to cut ....Ctrl+C to copy....Ctrl+V to paste.....Ctrl+O to open ....Ctrl+F to find......Ctrl+A to select all that u have on your monitor... :) Forgot anything??....dont worry! check Backups....No panic at all.....Humans often show their superiority to work they do and say "i am right and u are wrong".But computers are compromising.... Again!They do multitasking...Hats off.. We also do mutiple tasks at the same time..but no compliments...What more to say...Software professionals always break rules, so do the machines we work with.....We work in airconditioned enviornment with All windows wide Open.Then why have an ego clash with the intelligent machine!!

AGAIN!!!

Leaves of Memories makes a mournful Rustle in the Dark..........What's it i am missing ....!!!!!!

August 19 ,2009.......

Another Wonderful, Unforgettable day in Life ......Another phase of life....Employee from now on ....New outlook to Life........ New things to learn.......New Experiences......Corporate Life......Well, Expecting all Success ahead.......as all Beginners do !!

COLLEGE LIFE!!!!

My college days in a few sweet words!! GETTING UP LATE ......SLIGHT BREAKFAST...that too at the last minute.........FOOT BOARD travel ....in a crowded bus......LATE ATTENDANCE........LATE SUBMISSIONS of assignments and stuff ........LONG INTERVALS...........in canteen.......SHARING FOOD............MOBILES IN SILENT MODE............always sharing thoughts through sms....PHOTO SESSIONS......ALWAYS SOMTHING TO TALK.......and chit chat!...MASS BUNK.....FRIDAY OUTINGS ......mostly at CCD or ambrosia!!.....LAST MINUTE STUDY........SILLY MISUNDERSTANDINGS.......AND 2min fights!! STRUGGLE 4 MARKS...................ENJOYING THE MOST BORING LECTURES......throwing papers,drawing strange pics,humming watever comes in mind, enjoying smiles in all faces....ENJOY GROUP ARGUMENTS............. TOUR .....24/10 with friends alone........ARTS FEST..........AAGNEYA(unforgettable days)...........FILM FEST....DEMO DAYS................ONAM CELEBRATION..............endlessssssssssssssssss FUN!! LATE NIGHT CHATS......LATE SLEEP...........waiting eagerly for another grand day!!

' Inside The Dark Room of My Mother's Womb'!!

Once upon a time I was a single cell , not realising the fact that 'what is the future happens now, and what happens now becomes the past' . My Creator, having decided the combination of all characters i should possess , The cell started Multiplying to take the form of a Foetus, that eventually began Breathing, one fine day, in my mother's Womb.... Everyday has a hidden secret and i have seen it many times. But i do not know if i had experienced this secret right from the day when i was in a cellular form or may be i never knew the concept of a day! I might not have opened my eyes, not even once,to see whether its dark or bright around me ,the place where i stayed 9months and 14 days. I might have heard the lovely voice of my mom talking to me .... but did i recognize the language and did i interpret what she talked to me??? Didnt i feel bored , always yawning and sleeping , floating in the amniotic fluid, while the development of organs were going on,without disturbing me...Day and Night didnt make a difference for me... ...Did i ever knew that i was inside a beautiful lady....May be i looked at the sun through her eyes, heard though her ears, travelled with her , smiled when she was happy and never Cried!!!! Did the blood vessels frighten me or did i realise they were the means of nourishment for my organs??? Never angry with anyone... Not complaining on anything... even though i was tied to the wall of uterus by the umblical cord....and fighting against the forces that were trying to expell me with the help of those friendly hormones.... At last when i was pushed out into this world ,knowing what god has in store for me...i cried!! That wasnt for long.....but from there on Life seemed Complex! I Realised the HEAVEN inside My Mother's Womb..........

The Power to move the Mountain!

[inspiration] Faith is the Power that can move the Mountains. Its the driving force that can accomplish anything seemingly impossible. Faith can make reality work differently.If we wish something,we may or may not get it. But Faith can definitely produce positive results.We can experience peace and contentment and believe that our future is gonna be fine, if we have Faith. Faith is expecting success and declaring everything that happens to be part of our success no matter what. Dont let fate to have its trial on u,be sure and confident about your life! "Look before u leap"-proverb doesnt make any sense if u have Faith. We have only one life ; build ur lives on the strong foundation of faith.. ..Without faith,Nothing is Possible....with it,Nothing is Impossible.........

Meet my diary!

Air and Water are the most important life sustaining elements. But my case is different...i have my own composition of elements of life.. My Personal diary,Chocolates,Music,My bangle box are a few of those! If i am thrown into an empty lifeless planet ,i might live without air and water but not without my diary ...I dont address her as "it"...i RESPECT her...Because My Diary is at the same time ,a teacher and student to me..a Part of me. We share everything in Life...Now she has become old with experiences She is the Deviser of My Life....My sweet sister..She can feel my happiness and Sorrows...Consoles me...Congratulates me...My life is an open book to her.She 's INTELLIGENT ,as i am her knowledge and vocabulary...Her memory capacity is but limited to 317 pages....but thats ok! i never treat her inferior..... She reads whatever i write on her pages...and keeps it all a secret...I tell her only truths ...i Trust her...She never betrays me... I have placed my Diary on the table along with my books....But no one dares to open it and read...She's INVISIBLE to others may be...my Magical words!!She's BEAUTIFUL with all the pictures ,paper cuttings ,and many other colourful stuffs...She's my Best Friend...i never forget any important incidents or people, as she remembers everything 4 me... Everyday i spend a few minutes with my diary, telling her about my day....This is just an intro...about her!

An Hour Before I Wake Up!!

6 O' Clock!!

Thanks for the peaceful sleep!!

Bye to the bed for the next 18 hours !!

Precisely 1080 mins...64800 secs.....

Too long or Too short! Dont know!

Whom am i going to see when i open my eyes today?Dunno!

pappa,amma ,alan or the Framed picture of Mother Mary or

is it going to be some ugly insect ??

Am i going to have an exciting day or a gloomy day?Dunno!

Will i be Busy or Idle today?? Dunno!

Will there be strike today at college or will i end up sitting in

the class....boring?? Dunno!

Am i going to crack a lot of jokes today or lose my emotional

balance for some stupid thing and end up crying ? Dunno!

Will i accidentally involve in a fight today ?Dunno!

Am i going to spend too much money today? Dunno!

Am i going to get any bad news today or a compliment?Dunno!

Will i be talking to some Stranger today? Dunno!

Will i be able to work out my Plans successfully? Dunno!

How many times will i get a chance to Smile today? Dunno

Never Or Always ??? It can happen! i had experienced both!

How many chocolates will i be hopefully eating today?Dunno!

May be 5 or 10?? or None :-(

How many sms am i going to send and recieve today?Dunno!

Am i going to do any mischief today and get a lot of scoldings

from Someone? Dunno!!

Will i be forgetting any important thing today? Dunno!!

i make up a lot of plans for each day

but somedays everything happens against my wish.....

unexpectedly,strange things come up , spoiling my day!

But Morning seems to be innocent....with all its freshness!!

PROMISING a great day ahead !!GOODMORNING!!

Wats going to be so good about this morning ,my Lord!
this question comes up to my mind everyday just before
i get up from my bed..............

Start off the Day..... the question hour ends.....

with a lot of Dunno's left........Time to Open my Eyes!

Fortunately ,waiting for the answers to all Dunno's by

evening!!Here begins My Day...7 O' Clock!!!

My Butterfly Phobia!

Butterflies are the most beautiful creation of God!

i know that...i admire their beauty when they are not anywhere near me...But when they fly towards me, i am scared..and i do all sorts of things to get away or run to amma and keep requesting her to kill it...i dont even go near a dead one...The big brown moths,cocroach and butterflies are the scariest to me...this habit has earned me a hell lot of scoldings from my dad and mom ,right from my childhood itself...frankly speaking, i wanted to get away from this fear... My dad has tried a lot this way,but every attempt failed....my friends always used to make fun of me for my fear for butterflies. But they dont know what goes in my mind!i am totally disturbed!

One day , i saw people at home staring at me when i was back home from school..i thought wat happened to them....i asked amma what's wrong about me...she said nothing...dad was smiling at me. When i got inside my room, and stood infront of the mirror,i suddenly saw an Ugly Butterfly on my skirt...OMG! i felt that it was staring at me with its huge eyes as if it would eat me up. i made a big mess at my home that day...i was crying as i ran to amma...then dad took it out of the house...i couldnt sleep well for th next few days.. even if i slept ,i suddenly woke up thinking that something s disturbing the air around me...i Hate all flying creatures! How i wish God had not created these creatures!!

Dunno,wats yet to come up! now my parents are there to safeguard me,

as they know how terrible my feelings are ,on seeing butterflies! My mom

says that Human beings are the most dangerous ones in this earth...not these innocent ,harmless creatures..I know they r harmless but i cant help it...  'god please help me out of my butterfly phobia'....

Y This cruelty to my dear ones!!

My "dear ones" ;i meant all those who are born with abnormal 

health conditions like downsyndrome or any other genetic and 

chromosomal defects...

[This is my experience that i would like to share with all of u]

Large sized head, protruding almond shaped eyes ,prominent 

tongue, short legs etc distinguishes these induviduals from normal 

human beings. They are neither beautiful nor intelligent ,but they 

have a sensitive heart. They might have mental and physical disabilities, 

they are always dependent but they are also a part of this world. 

Family and relationships are meant for them too. 

i have seen many times how a family near my home,treats their only 

child ,who is affected with downsyndrome. The mother in the family beat 

him whenever she sees the child in front of her. i saw her stamp on his chest, 

for lying down on the way.how can a mother behave in this way...i don't know. 

he seemed dirty always , salivating constantly,wearing dirty clothes.He 

always made a peculiar noise and watched around him like a brutal beast.. 

i saw him always crying..whenever i passed his house ,i saw him looking out 

of the window . i never forgot to smile at him and he smiled at me back. 

i really feel for his miseries. But some days he threw stones at me ...one

day he even gave me a biscuit ..i was his only friend.. His parents lack 

the knowledge to realize that this child could have been much better 

if they had given him good treatment and also send him to the school 

for mentally retarded.. God loved him ..that i knew because 

another lady who used to curse him always and make fun of him ,

got a defective child for herself. God taught her how much he cared 

for him. And he is no more now!

i know how my aunt looks after my cousin brother..she loves him so 

much and she treats him as if he is normal. She taught him everything 

about how to be in a family. But he wont talk properly neither can he 

call 'appa' 'amma' . He goes to 'The School for Mentally Retarded' 

by Rev. Fr . Felix. i always felt that he is more intelligent than 

else in our family.he plays all kinds of musical instruments. he knows 

painting , embroidery and many other skills which even normal humans 

cant do. He was made to explore and develop the dormant abilities within 

him..it worked wonders in his life.....

'Having a child with Down syndrome cannot be prevented' says 

medical reports . we are not to blame anybody for a baby having 

this condition. Nothing you did before or during pregnancy might 

have caused it. It occurs in all races, in all social classes and in all 

countries throughout the world. It can happen to anyone. Thank god 

for what we have and do care for the ones who are not lucky to live like 

us ,in this world.

LOVE is the medicine that can cure any defects. But it has to be 

in our hearts,ready to be shared , for the ones who are in need of it..

Understand their wants...Love them...Hurt them not...They too have feelings!