Son Sujay with watering plants and activites

Our Son Sujay who started walking in last August 2008 has become more active now a days.

Below are couple of his videos :

It was difficult to understand him in the beginning especially whenever he was hungry or at time of his sleep.



We can see lot of changes in the mean time. He started speaking couple of words like thata(grandfather),ajji(grandmother),appaji,(daddy),amma(mother),atte,myanni(for maggi),car, socks,ppa(for chikkappa & doddappa)......

Now a days he wants to do few activites or things on his own like wearing slipper -shoes,eating ....

General election in India , 2009

India is currently holding general elections,the largest democratic election in the world to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases on April 16, April 22-April 23, April 30, May 7 and May 13, 2009.

According to the Indian Constitution, elections in India for the Lok Sabha (the lower house) must be held at least every five years under normal circumstances. With the last elections held in 2004, the term of the 14th Lok Sabha expires on June 1, 2009.

The election is conducted by the Election Commission of India, which estimates an electorate of 714 million voters, an increase of 43 million over the 2004 election. During the budget presented in February 2009, Rs.1,120 Crores (€176 million) was budgeted for election expenses

Compared to last decade and couple of years back , there is a lot of changes in terms of Election campaign, disclosure of the assets of the person contesting the election, eduacted class contesting election, awareness among people has increased..

probable persons who can become Prime minister are Manmohan Singh of Congress, L.K.Advani of BJP, Mayawati of BSP...

Although there is couple of violence incidents here and there overall a peacefull election so far thanks to People, Election commission of india, Security, the government .....

Now a days after the introduction of Electronic Voting machines there is almost no chance of fake voting which is a very good change

One more interesting this is although people have enrolled their name & altough many of them had voiter id card could not vote in first two phases as their name is not appearing in the list may be due to lack of planning or discrepency..

When I went for voting i had to search my name for more than 30 minutes before voting..Finally got relieved when i saw my name & voted with id proof(we can vote even if have dont have Election id card \with ID
Proof such as PAN card, Driving licence, Bank passbook with photo card, ID card s given by college.....around 20 such ids so that we can use our power to elect our own leaders.

Nice to know software engineers, educated class people started contesting elections which is a good sign and from whom we can expect good governement and less corruption..

Hope India will see much more progress in coming years..

Coorg Trip

we colleagues had been to a Trip recently to Coorg,Nagarahole,Kushalnagar,Mysore and few other near by places.

Actually our colleagues had decided to hire vehicle but without driver so that we only could drive & enjoy as per our trip.Trip was awesome and memorable in many ways..may be free from regular office work, enjoying nature & outing,pulling others leg, nice drive,enjoyed friends vehicle drive .............

We were able to see a beautiful , nice morning view from Raja Seat in Coorg,excellent golden temple in Kushalnagar,Nice bath in Irpu Falls,a natioal park in Nagarahole.Nice swim and water play in Dubare Forest (but we could not go for Elephant safari as it had closed at 12:30PM),Mysore palace along with food in Mcdonalds & KFC..  

Trip was memorable in couple ways as for the first time I saw actaually witnessed travelling in a vehicle reaching upto 160km/Hr  on Road , thanks to nice highway although its little  risky to reach with that speed ,unless anybody knows driving well & has a nice control over it, thanks to Sanjay.Then Nadeem who knew basics of 4 four wheeler driving, driving with confidence , Sahoo with nice questions & answer session, Shafi for his awesome talk, Sam for his full energy filled inspiration to all, Shashir from his unique style,Pravash with nice causal talk to all of us & especially with shafi ..!

We enjoyed the trip overall..! :-)

Foriegn Notes

From my child hood that is from my primary School i started collecting Stamps.Later as i grew up started collecting variety of coins of our own country India & abroad. In recent years I started collecting foreign notes(Currecny) whenever I get an opportunity ..

Although it requires time & patience and of course interest to post detailed blog of these collections , i thought to post a blog to start with a couple of foreign notes.

I used to ask my close friends if they have these notes or coins ,if they have visted western counties or any country.I am lucky to collect some of them from friend Sandeep who had visted Bangaldesh, Nigeria couple of years back & my younger brother Arvind who got an opportunity to visit US,Korea,Hongkong,UK..

Here are some of the notes.

Bannerghatta National Park

Today I had been to Bannerghatta national parkwith family members.Here are some of the photos and details.. 

                                                     

Bannerghatta National Park is situated 22 km south of Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The journey to the park takes nearly an hour from Bangalore. This hilly place is the home for one of the richest natural, zoological reserves. The 25,000 acre (101 km²) zoological park makes this a major tourist attraction of Bangalore.

Travel Info

Altitude: 1245 to 1634 meters above sea level
Visiting hours: 9am to 5pm
Holiday: Closed every Tuesday

There is a small museum in the zoo which showcases zoological exhibits. The zoo, which is a major attraction in this area, also has a reptile park and a small theatre.. The Zoo closes on Tuesday (weekly Holiday)

The zoo has separate charges for weekdays and weekends (or Holidays). The prices currently for A Grand Safari — of Lions, Tigers & Herbivorus costsRs. 100 on regular days and Rs. 125 on weekends (and other holidays) where as, to move around the zoo would cost you Rs. 25.00. The Tiger and Lion safari is the most interesting and one can avail tickets only for that at a lower cost.

The entire month of May has holiday fares as that is the time when children in India have summer holidays.

Bannerghatta National Park contact phone number: +91-80-27828540

Butterfly Park

The country's first Butterfly Park was established at the Bannerghatta Biological Park couple of years ago..

Barack Obama -Man of the moment

Barack Hussein Obama ( born August 4, 1961) is the President-elect of the United States of America, and the first African American to be elected President of the United States.

Campaigning and the selction of a presidential election started almost a year ago in US.He has beaten Hilary clinton to get nomination for presidential election..

Campaigning attracted people & media not only from US but from all over the world for many reasons.May be United states is one of the largest & powerful country in the world.It has many multinational companies operating in different countries and Barack Obama will head the counrty who can make rules and take any strong decisions in this time of financial crisis.Many countries and their heads and thier country men are eagely waiting as US has always played a major role in terms of Worlsd politics,international affairs..

Obama was the junior United States Senator from Illinois from January 3, 2005 until his resignation on November 16, 2008, following his election to the Presidency. His term of office as the forty-fourth U.S. president will begin on January 20, 2009.

Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the first African-American president of theHarvard Law Review. He worked as a community organizer, and practiced as a civil rights attorney in Chicago before serving three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. He also taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, Obama was elected to the Senate in November 2004. Obama delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004.

As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, Obama helped create legislation to control conventional weaponsand to promote greater public accountability in the use of federal funds. He also made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. During the 110th Congress, he helped create legislation regarding lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change,nuclear terrorism, and care for U.S. military personnel returning from combat assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When I spoke to many people from United states right from campaigning till his election to President I got varied opinions and respnse like , politicians give lot of assurances and they dont do as in other countries , few pepole were least bothered about the person whoever is elected, some are having hopes that he will do good job..

Obama has lot of challenges ahead as Unites states as US is going through tough time in terms of financial crisis.Many country men are thinking that he may put some restrictions on outsourcing job to other countries..

Lets wait and watch as time has come to see his power & his dreams for his country ...

All the Best Obama ....

DR.C.R.Chandrashekar a Psychiatrist with a difference..

Dr.C.R.Chandrashekhar, a Famous Psychiatrist from Kanataka has turned 60 on Friday . To mark this day "Kannada Vaidya Saahitya Parishat "has conducted a function yesterday in Bangalore.

I got an opportunity to attend this useful Felicitation programme yesterday evening.

Lot of Doctors from all over Karnataka had come to attend this function along with lot of fans, writers and  people from all walks.

Dr.C.R.C as he known to readers is born on December 12,1948, in small town of Channapattana in a middle class family.

He is known as the first person to write about psychiatry in Kannada.Till now he has written 159 books.! Out of which 107 books are related to Psychiatry.

I was surprised to know that his books have been translated to few languages like Urdu,English & Gujrathi also.

He is not only a Doctor,Psychiatrist,also a good Speaker  who has given a lot of programmes in Radio & Television. He is very simple living and high thinking person.

Today we can see people suffering from depression,tension & other diseases related to mind.

Psychiatrists are playing a major role in curing these diseases through medicines & counselling.

It was a memorable function as lot of books related to health,sex,Ayurveda,Homoeopathy  were on display and sale.And there was a discussion & lecture by eminent personalites.

Today(On 6th February 2011) to my Suprprise I got an opportunity to meet and speak to DR.CRC in 77th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana,which held in Bangalore ..I could spend couple of minutes with him..He is so great ,yet so simple..He is Simple living high thinking person.

BANGALORE BOOK FESTIVAL 2008

Recently  I had been to " Bangalore Book festival"  along with  my wife, son and sister which held till 23rd November.

It was very good ..Books of different languages like Kannada,English,Hindi,Telugu,Malayalam,urdu,Tamil,Bengali and many other languages ........... were on display & sales.Many publishers,distributors had displayed books of different writers and on variey of topics from Literature,politics,sports,stories,autobiography,religion,health,wealth,mind,soul... Really it was like a festival for readers  & of course for sellers. There was a huge crowd.I could see people buying many books at a time...

We also purchased few books.

Now a days we can see people talking about the downward trend in reading habits in people after the invention of modern media like Television (TV) & Internet.But this has proved wrong..!

I thought untill good writers are there ,untill readers are there no media can replace books which is having their own advantages compared to TV and internet

This type of book festivals should be conducted atleast once in every 6 months not only in Big city like bangalore but also in other districts also so that it can reach all places & even to a common man....

Salumarada Thimmakka - The woman, who has done a lot to preserve the environment

              

 

Today  I got the opportunity to meet Salumarada Thimmakka in Vibhutipuramatha near Basavanagara,Bangalore.

Today she was given with prestigeous ,"Suvarna shree " award for her work from Vibhutipura math.

Thimmaka is so simple and  when I aksed for a photo with her she told , "aparoopada ajji alwa "(I am rare grandmother thats why know)..

Here are some of the details of Salumarada Thimmakka ,which I downloaded from the web...

SALUMARADA THIMMAKKA, (Kannada: ಸಾಲುಮರದ ತಿಮ್ಮಕ್ಕ) the woman who planted banyan trees as her life's mission along the Bangalore-Nelamangala highway, is certainly not a household name in the "happening" metropolis. For, she went about her selfless work for 45 years without any fuss or publicity. And, of course, she never called herself an environmental activist, though she planted and painstakingly watered and nurtured some 400-odd trees, along with her husband, Chikkaiah.

This illiterate woman, who has done more to preserve the environment than many self-styled and seminar-oriented environmentalists, has donated much of the funds she has received as awards to a trust specifically for setting up a maternity home in her village, Hulikal near Kudur, a short distance from Bangalore.
 Thimmakka is a storehouse of knowledge on environment and knows all there is to know about agriculture. This is not unusual in agricultural communities, where the woman not only takes care of the household but also plays an active part in the entire agricultural process. Ask Thimmakka about trees, and she will name some 25 species in one go, and will also tell you why they have to be planted.

But what egged Thimmakka on to take on the extraordinary task of planting 400 trees?
"I longed to have children, but couldn't. My husband felt that we should make up for it by `parenting' trees. He believed that it was a work of great punya, and would do us good. He used to tell me it would also fulfil my desire for motherhood. Believe me, nobody ever told us to do this. It's our own thinking that put us on to it," says Thimmakka, explaining the circumstances.

But this meant that Thimakka and her husband Chikkaiah had to walk about three kilometres from their home in Huligal to the highway, along which they had decided to plant trees. They couldn't afford to buy saplings either. So, they cut branches off banyan trees and planted them in a row. During the first year, they successfully planted 10. But their task did not end there. The couple drew water from the village well, trudged the three-kilometre distance, and watered the young plants. "I would carry two pitchers, one on my waist and one on my head, and my husband would carry one on his head." They did this round the year, except during rainy season.

Moreover, protected the growing plants from grazing cattle by fencing them with thorny shrubs. They actually felt like anxious parents, until the plants took root and began to grow! "We planted more, increasing the numbers to 15, 25, and more." Neither Thimmakka nor her husband ever found the need to keep count of the trees they planted. It was only after she got recognition that the Government started counting them.
Though Thimmakka's vision is blurred, she still has no problem in recognising things and objects close to her.
She has been given a tape-recorder and a radio by two organisations, which honoured her some time ago. While she uses the radio frequently, she does not use the tape-recorder, for she does not know how to operate it. ``If you want you can play it,'' she told this correspondent. The tape-recorder is used only when someone who knows how to play it, visits her.

Why did she plant trees? ``See for yourself. So many birds eat the fruits of my trees and build nests on them. The leaves that fall become manure. And, in summer, they provide shade to tired people.''
Life had never been easy for Thimmakka. Her husband had a tiny piece of land on which they grew ragi. It was barely sufficient for them. She worked in fields, carried stones to construction sites, dug drains, besides other backbreaking jobs. All that she earned was taken away by her mother-in-law.

Towards the late '80s, her life grew more complicated when her mother-in-law had a stroke and brother-in-law took seriously ill. "It was a traumatic phase of my life. I had to give them bath, eed them, and even clean their shit," she recalls. After prolonged suffering, both passed away. Soon, Chikkaiah also took ill. Cousins came and took him away on the pretext of nursing him to health, though all the while, they had intentions of claiming the small piece of land he owned.

Chikkaiah also died soon. "I felt I had been stripped off my clothes," she recalls, tears in her eyes. "There was nobody for me, no money, nothing..." Worse still, her dilapidated hut began to crumble. There was no roof over her head and no walls around her. All she had was a gunnysack to lie on. The few vessels that she had, she gave them away to her neighbour. "This Sankranti, it will be 13 years since my husband passed away. I haven't planted a single sapling since then."

It was not as if she was too depressed to continue the task, but just that there were too many practical problems. There was nobody to help her cut branches and plant them, and with what little she earned, it was impossible to spend money on plants as well.

The story of the couple's 45-year effort, but was far-sighted enough to write out applications to the departments concerned, both at the Central and State level. Several awards and recognition came her way. "I have a whole lot of prizes, I have no place to keep them. I have put them all in a plastic bag and kept them in the attic," says Thimmakka in a matter-of-fact tone. "Life is better than before. Now, at least, I have a roof above my head.