Some thoughts about Bangalore Auto walas...

You wake up early in the morning, with a good feel, positive thoughts around and get out of the home hoping for a beautiful day. As you wait for an Auto and these auto wala's attitude towards people who work in Bangalore will spoil your entire day! The Auto wala's in Bangalore mint money specially from the youngsters and target the non bangaloreans.

We common people in Bangalore, who have come for work leaving our home town are pestered by the lousy good for nothing auto drivers. They do not even know how to behave with women. Without any guilt, they fix an amount. They are so rude and they'll claim 2 to 3 times charge. When it comes to short distance, no rikshaw wala will be ready to take you. If they agree then it'll be on a huge amount. And almost 80% of the auto wala's have a meter in their auto just as a toy. They won't use it as it may get spoilt. Almost all Auto drivers are having wrong meter and at night they charge 3 times of the rate.

Most of the auto wala's will blindly say some amount. I make sure that i follow the 'Walk Away' principle immediately without any negotiation. Most f the times they will come running behind to our expectation with meter charge. This rarely happens. You need to stand in the road and beg on these auto wala's pleading to drop at your destination. As if they are going to drop you free of charge at your destination.

If your house is near Jayadeva circle and you say you need to go to a place near Jayadeva circle. They'll stop the auto right in front of the circle as if anyone will build a house in the Circle.

Some auto wala's will get you into the auto with a wide smile and later while dropping they will not give back 25 rupees stating that he has only 100 rupee notes and does not have change or they will start pestering like while boarding the auto you never mentioned you need to get down at this place, you have got me to the interior, we don't get any customer's on our way back, you need to pay 20 rupees extra.

I have hell a lot of bad experiences with the Auto drivers.

But there are good and honest auto wala's as well with the perfect meter. They realize our intention by checking our sharp eyes on the meter while driving. They will give back the extra money even before we bargain for it. I used to feel pity and give some extra money to such auto wala's.

Note: Always make sure that the auto has the digital meter because the probability of tampered digital meter is very very less.

Public Health Awareness

What is public health? Why Public Health?

Public Health is the science of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and research for disease and injury prevention.

Most people don't realize what public health is and the impact that Public Health has on their lives, but there are examples all around you. There are factors that determine your health that you can control, and there are factors that you cannot. It's Public Health that fights both of those battles. Public Health isn't something that matters to someone else–Public Health is your health.

Explore your neighborhood and let people know that public health affects them on a daily basis and that we are only as healthy as the world we live in.

CIL (Center for Integrated Learning, Mangalore) has taken a initiative in designing an educative poster on Public Health Awareness.

Here's the poster designed by Tushar Sangam (Lourdes Central School) and Satvik Krishna (Canara High School). Congratulations Tushar and Satvik for your efforts on Public Health Awareness. Well done n high spirits!!!


These are the things which CIL has emphasized on Public Health Awareness.

• Health is wealth, remember

• make this earth a better place to live

• educate people to stop diseased

• Give proper water supply

• build more public toilets

• improving public health
• smoking kills
• stop eating junk

• be hygenic

• burgers pizza's prohibited

• don't keep food uncovered

• save planet earth by improving public health

• destroy flu spreaders

• don't pollute

• stop buying street food

• don't use pesticides

• eat healthy food

• spread awareness

• "talk" and encourage others

• spread awareness

• fight diseases

• build more hospitals

• keep society clean

Please spread this information and let everyone know about Public Health. Lets make a difference and encourage educational institutions about public health awareness!

Your valuable comments are appreciated!!!

Peace of Mind :-)

I was reading online somethings related to Peace of Mind and I felt I will share this to you all.
Inner peace ultimately leads to external peace. By creating peace in our inner world, we bring it into the external world, affecting other people too.
Here are a few simple things that can help you attain Peace of Mind:

• Reduce the amount of time you read the newspapers or watch the news on TV.
• Stay away from negative conversations and from negative people.
• Don't hold grudges. Learn to forget and forgive. Nurturing ill feelings and grievances hurts you and causes lack of sleep.
• Don't be jealous of others. Being jealous means that you have low self-esteem and consider yourself inferior to others. This again, causes lack of inner peace.
• Accept what cannot be changed. This saves a lot of time, energy and worries. Every day we face numerous inconveniences, irritations and situations that are beyond our control. If we can change them, that's fine, but this is not always possible. We must learn to put up with such things and accept them cheerfully.
• Learn to be more patient and tolerant with people and events.
• Don't take everything too personally. Some emotional and mental detachment is desirable. Try to view your life and other people with a little detachment and less involvement. Detachment is not indifference, lack of interest or coldness. It is the ability to think and judge impartially and logically. Don't worry if again and again you fail to manifest detachment. Just keep trying.
• Let bygones be gone. Forget the past and concentrate on the present moment. There is no need to evoke unpleasant memories and immerse yourself in them.
• Practice some concentration exercises. This will help you to reject unpleasant thoughts and worries that steal away your peace of mind.
• Learn to practice meditation. Even a few minutes a day will make a change in your life.

These are ten commandments for Peace of Mind:
1. Do not interfere in others' business
Most of us create our own problems by interfering too often in others' affairs. We do so because somehow we have convinced ourselves that our way is the best way, our logic is the perfect logic, and those who do not conform to our thinking must be criticized and steered to the right direction, our direction.
This kind of attitude on our part denies the existence of individuality and consequently the existence of God, for God has created each one of us in a unique way. No two human beings can think or act in exactly the same way. All men or women act the way they do because they are prompted to do so by the Divine within them. There is God to look after everything. Why are you bothered? Mind your own business and you will have your peace.

2. Forget and forgive
This is the most powerful aid to peace of mind. We often nurture ill feeling inside our heart for the person who insults or harms us. We forget that the insult or injury was done to us once but by nourishing the grievance we go on excavating the wound forever. Therefore it is essential that we cultivate the art of forgiving and forgetting. Believe in the justice of God and the doctrine of Karma. Let Him judge the act of the one who insulted you. Life is too short to waste in such trifles. Forget, forgive, and march on.

3. Do not crave for recognition
This world is full of selfish people. They seldom praise anybody without selfish motive. They may praise you today because you are rich and have power but no sooner you are powerless, they will forget your achievement and start criticizing you.
Moreover, no one is perfect. Then why do you value the words of praise of another mortal like you? Why do you crave for recognition? Believe in yourself. People's praises do not last long. Do your duties ethically and sincerely and leave the rest to God.

4. Do not be jealous
We all have experienced how jealousy can disturb our peace of mind. You know you work harder than your colleagues in the office but they get promotions, you do not. You started a business several years ago but you are not as successful as your neighbor whose business is only one year old. Should you be jealous? No, remember everybody's life is shaped by his previous Karma that has now become his destiny. If you are destined to be rich, not all the world can stop you. If you are not so destined, no one can help you either. Nothing will be gained by blaming others for your misfortune. Jealousy will not get you anywhere, but will only give you restlessness.

5. Change yourself according to the environment
If you try to change the environment single handedly, the chances are you may fail. Instead, change yourself to suit the environment. As you do this, even the environment, which has remained unfriendly for you, will mysteriously appear to be congenial and harmonious.

6. Endure what cannot be cured
This is the best way to turn a disadvantage into an advantage. Every day we face numerous inconveniences, ailments, irritations and accidents that are beyond our control. We must learn to endure them cheerfully thinking, "God will it so, so be it". God's logic is beyond our comprehension. Believe it and you will gain in patience, in inner strength, in will power.

7. Do not bite more than you can chew
This maxim should be always remembered. We often tend to take more responsibilities than we are capable to carry out. This is done to satisfy our ego. Know your limitations. Spend your free time on prayers, introspection and meditation. This will reduce those thoughts in your mind, which make you restless. Fewer the thoughts, greater is the peace of mind.

8. Meditate regularly
Meditation makes the mind thoughtless. This is the highest state of peace of mind. Try and experience it. If you meditate earnestly for half an hour every day, you will tend to become calm during the remaining twenty-three and a half hours. Your mind will not be disturbed as much as before. This will increase your efficiency and you will turn out more work in less time.

9. Never leave the mind vacant
An empty mind is devil's workshop. All evil deeds start in the mind. Keep your mind occupied in something positive, something worthwhile. Actively follow a hobby. You must decide what you value more - money or peace of mind. Your hobby, like social work may not always earn you more money, but you will have a sense of fulfillment and achievement. Even if you are resting physically, occupy yourself in healthy reading or mental chanting of God's name.

10. Do not procrastinate and never regret
Do not waste time in wondering "should I or shouldn't I?" Days, weeks, months and years may be wasted in that futile mental debating. You can never plan enough because you can never anticipate all future happenings. Always remember God has His own plan too. Value your time and do things. It does not matter if you fail the first time. You can rectify your mistakes and succeed the next time. Sitting back and worrying will lead to nothing. Learn from your mistakes but do not brood over the past. DO NOT REGRET! Whatever happened was destined to happen only that way. Take it as the will of God. You do not have the power to alter the course of God's will. Why cry?

Vishwa Tulu Sammelana (Gathering of Tuluvas) – 2009

Tulunadu welcomes you all to Vishwa Tulu Sammelana which will be held from 10th December, 2009 to 13th December, 2009 at Shree Rathnavarma Heggade Stadium, Ujire (5 miles from Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Temple).

Tulunadu is a lovely place of coastal Karnataka and known for its beautiful beaches and great culture. Tulu language which is one of the five Dravidian languages which is mainly spoken in Tulunadu and all over Dakshina Kannada.

The culture, language, tradition allied to Tulu language and Tulunadu will be portrayed in this convention. How Tulunadu was before, the current situation and the what is needed in the future will be highlighted. Tulunadu has wonderful culture and tradition which you can witness in this convention.

Mangalore is preparing for this convention with high spirits and lot of arrangements are organized for the presentation of tradition, literature, music, pardanas, dances, sports, food, dresses, exhibitions and so on which reveals the Tulu culture.

Do visit this convention and I’m sure you’ll love it!

For more information on this convention, please refer: http://www.vishwatulusammelana.com/

Cheers!!!

Happy Children's Day!!!

Childhood memories!!!

We all have enjoyed our childhood and we have lot of pleasant memories from our childhood. We all have memories to cherish for the rest of the lifetime. It’s not just about any single space or thing, but how we used to feel at that point in life. My own memories like: spending time during my vacations. We used to have a swing attached with one of the guava tree and how we used to enjoy playing in the fields. Small games..lot of happiness. And when I get back home after summer vacations in granny’s place and everything looks different and feel that things are changed from here to there. You feel different, isn't it? And on back home stories from granny’s. Those stories elaborated, long and mysterious and get to know lot of things from the history and how our ancestors lived their life.

Do we realize there is another world where small people live which we do not try to see? Here's a poem which is written on an Indian child.

"Every second child is born malnourished.

Ninety five out of a thousand children Die before they reach their first birthday.

Seventy of every thousand don't even reach the age of five.

These are the little children who hold our dreams in their little close fisted palms.

That light up our lives, our incandescent dreams.

Which we hope will survive through these grubby little beings.

But what if they turn around and question.

What are YOU doing for us?

Where is our drinking water?

Where is that one room shelter you promised us?

What happened to our midday meal?

What is it my friend, that you and I are going to then reveal?

That the government eats up our funds?

That the politician likes his bread well buttered?

That the country’s defence is of far more important

Than your hungry eyes or your empty stomach?"

Every year November 14th we celebrate Children's Day in India. But do we have any idea how many unprivileged children who do not get an opportunity to celebrate this day? Who do not have any pleasant memories with their childhood like we all do have?

Is there anything me or you can do in this regard? May be we cannot do a whole lot of difference. But yeah, we can join hands and make a small difference to bring a smile on these unprivileged children. Let's be their voice. If we cannot outreach to provide education, counselling and basic health services on the street atleast we'll put a smile on an unprivileged child's face. So, I call everyone to celebrate Children's Day in your own way but please try to bring a smile on these unprivileged children who can as we’ll have pleasant memories with their childhood.

As the saying goes: “Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted.”

Happy Children's Day and let's make a difference!!!

Cheers!

To you...

"I want you to always know that
in good and in bad times
I will love you
and that no matter what you do
or how you think
or what you say
you can depend on
my support, guidance
friendship and love
every minute of every day"

Time is the healer!?!?!?!?

People say that time is the healer. And I agree with them. You'll never know how long it'll take. It mainly depends on how we handle things at that time and how we react. Time won't heal every wound, it's we who handle makes the difference. We are the one's who is responsible for whatever happens with and around us: good or bad. It's like, we may not have control on what life flings at us but we can control our response to whatever happens to us.

Most of the times we go though lot of pain not being able to find relief from our emotional pain, because we don't make the changes what we need to. It's all in our minds... Be open for change, be alert on whats happening around to heal the pain and you'll really find relief..Do not stay locked in the same frame of mind and refuse to see the new world.

Everyone, at least once will be emotionally hurt somewhere somehow. "Time is enough to heal any wound". And time does heal all the wounds and if we don't forget and forgive our life would be miserable. Move on..to live and you should.. We don't forget everything with time, but we just feel different with time. With time, some emotions will not have the same priority. It’s all a process, you get hurt, you go through the different phases of denial, shock, anger, disappointment, and so on. But at the end, you learn to live with what happened and move on. Seriously, if you can make something good out of something bad that happened to you, then B.R.A.V.O. Don’t forget the incident, but forget the grief. It all depends on who comes into your life, to help you heal, to fill the gap. And someone will come :-) And that's the truth.

A fine green day! With the spark..happy..smiling.. :-)

I'm back with the Spark :-)

I'm back with the spark in my smile..It's a nice feeling to get the spark back..be happy in life.. Thank you for being with me.. Happinness always.. :-)

Follow your instincts if possible...

It was June 8, 2009. I left my house bit disturbed and I didn’t know why I was so disturbed. I reached my stop to board the cab at my usual place. That day I reached a bit early at my stop. Usually, my eyes would be gazed on the CMH road hoping for the cab to come soon, but that day I was looking towards Sapna Book House road. There, my eyes fell on an old man trying to cross the road, without legs, he was strolling with a wooden plank for support. I have seen this old man before too, in and around CMH road. But that day as I was seeing him crossing the road, I was feeling something is going to happen. I was not able to judge what. There were vehicles stopped at the signal and this old man was very close to them. He crossed half way and still my eyes were not moving away from this old man.

I was still watching that way and there, I screamed. The signal was green and the car driver couldn’t see this old man. It wasn’t the driver’s mistake though. The old man was short enough and he was unnoticed. The car went through the old man and he was stuck within the wheels. Hearing me scream, people who were having tea near the tea stall ran for rescue. They lifted the car and somehow pulled the old man out. The old man was alive at that time but he was completely stuck under the wheels. He was taken to the hospital. I don’t know what happened after that.

I was disturbed the entire day for not being able to save the old man from the accident. It did not get into my mind that signal would go green anytime. Instead of looking at the old man, I would have helped him cross the road. I didn’t. That didn’t get into my mind. For 2 days, even in my dreams this incident was haunting me.

I don’t know what might have happened to the old man. Hope he’s alive. I never checked with the tea stall people about his condition. For the reason, if he’s no more then this would haunt me even more. May be, I was not able to help the old man for this had to happen. May be god wanted to free him from all these burdens. May be, that’s the reason.

It’s been so many days and I never saw that old man around CMH road after the incident. Everyday when I wait for my cab, the CMH signal reminds me of that incident. I wish I would have been able to help the old man. They all need help. It’s just a matter of going forward and giving a helping hand. We won’t lose anything, but still we will be so busy in our own world that we forget such simple things. Same thing happened with me. My instincts were trying to tell me something and I never bothered to give it a thought.

Recently, I asked few of my friends what did they learn from me. And here’s what they learnt from me:

* I learnt to be quiet
* Enjoy life
*I learnt how to sleep like a snail
*Trying to walk and jog like you
*I’m learning to spend like mad when u really need something. To wait for someone without getting discouraged
*To be cool always, facing problem with challenge, friendliness with colleagues
*To sleep like kumbakarna anywhere
*To be cool and happy in life
*I learned that I’m not the only one crazy in love in this world. I found you too missing, remembering and loving someone so madly just like me.

With friends around, I have learnt a lot of things. I learnt to be independent, I learnt to enjoy life, to be cool, I learnt to care, I learnt to be happy and much more. Thank you all for teaching me what’s life.

Friends, you can still add to the list.. :-)

Jogging after a long gap…

It’s after a longggg time I went jogging today. I got home in the evening in the hope of taking a nap as whole day today I was feeling drowsy. But jogging in the evenings till the Sunfeast 10K event was decided already. So at 7 we started jogging towards the park. We took 10 rounds round the park. Though I was so tired, when it comes to running; I wasn’t tired. I could easily take another 10 rounds. And that was refreshing too. My sleep vanished, I was feeling good, contented.

All these preparations are for Sunfeast 10K Run! I am running in the Sunfeast 10K for a cause. To raise money for this cause - please support my Run and make a contribution to Child Rights and You - CRY. I pledge to make a difference to this world!!

To contribute to Child Rights and You – CRY, go to: http://www.bangalorecares.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=70&name=simroseCRY

Also, join the CRY's campaign to "Eliminate Discrimination, not the girl child" at: http://www.cry.org/mainapp/cryuserapps/gcpledge.aspx

A collection - something nice

I try to talk to you, but I don't know what to say. I am afraid you don't want me to say anything. So I don't. But inside of me there are words waiting to come out. And tell you how I feel - like how I Miss You. And how I love you, despite my broken heart. And how I need you in my life. And especially how much I want you. But those words may forever stay in my heart-locked inside. Sometimes I wonder if there are words locked inside you too... but I'll never know.

I miss you when something really good happens, because you're the one I want to share it with. I miss you when something is troubling me, because you're the only one who understands me so well. I miss you when I laugh and cry, because I know that you're the one who makes my laughter grow and my tears disappear. I miss you all the time thinking of all the wonderful times we spent for those were some of the best memorable times in life.

When I miss you, sometimes I listen to music or look at pictures of you, not to remind me of you but to make me feel as if I'm with you. It makes me forget the distance and capture you.

My Nephews b’day celebration at ‘Sanidhya’

We celebrated Kunal’s and Thushar’s birthday at ‘Sanidhya - Residential School & Training Centre for the Mentally Challenged’ on March 27, 2009. This celebration at Sanidhya was a surprise celebration for Kunal and Thushar from their Parents and CIL(Centre for Integrated Learning) members. I felt this b’day celebration was meaningful and in a memorable way this year. Usually, we celebrate b’days amongst our family and friends. But these kind of celebrations makes us feel happy for spending our lovely moments with specially-abled children. ‘Saanidhya’ is located at Bikarnakatta, came into existence about six years ago by Vasanth Master (Vasantkumar Shetty). A few years back whoever studied in St. Agnes College and were in NSS will definately know about Vasant Master and his attention towards specially-abled children. He has converted his own house as school for these children.

There’s an exhibition of articles made by the students of Sanidhya on April 3rd and 4th, 2009 at Kadri. People who are in Mangalore on these days please attend this exhibition and encourage these kids.

Here are some pictures...

Tushar n Kunal entering in confusion and suprise..

Both of them cutting the cake...
Some gifts for the special kids...

Time to play some games...
Entertainment by the special kids...
At last CIL Team Meeting...

Help a child..spend time with a special kid..help special kids..help the poor..in need.. this is one way of finding happiness and feeling happy.. :-)

About Me...

Here's what my colleagues think about me...

Theresia Says I am
Highly Analytical, has Good Aspirations, Inquisitive and Organized
Preetha Says I am
Helpful, Cheerful, Thoughtful and very Frank
Dimple Says I am
Supportive and active, Jovial, Smiling and Naughty
Sapna Says I am
Very Straight forward, Helpful and Gives good advice
Martin Says I am
Persistent in what I do, friendly, helpful and has good domain knowledge
Rajeshwar Says I am
Generous, distributes snacks and good domain knowledge
Raju Says I am
Very friendly, helpful and have a Good knowledge in our domain
Zakir Says I am
Helpful, Very Hard Working and Wears nice dresses everyday

Very true...

"I wish my eyes could speak

what my heart feels for you,

cause my lips can lie on what

is true. My eyes couldn't

cause even if I close them

I could still see you."

A Gift unattended…

I have this gift with me, brought with loads of love…to our beloved friend.. Me n my friend got this gift during those days when we were immersed with loads of work, those days when we had no time to relax n we worked on all weekends as well. Just trying to say we have thought about making our friend’s day memorable.. planning for surprise.. n all that.. But all plans do not work as we want you see.. A year passed and there’s a gift we have un-attended…

Whenever I clean my wardrobe, I find this gift and wonder why??? What do I do with this? It hurts sometimes. It’ll always remind me of how things changed in all these days. As days go, people change, friendships change I agree.. but that special bond which ties friends together wouldn’t change right!!!

Sometimes we think a lot on all these.. about unanswered questions.. we try to find answers and all in vain. Some things are better left unsaid!!! This is what I convince myself. It’s always this way; when we try to find answers we’ll never get our answers to life’s queries. But one day when we find the answers we will be least bothered about the answers nor those haunting questions.

This gift one day will reach its destination; things will change back to normal. It’s my hope and I never give up. ;-) [oye..I’ll make sure you’ll read this blog] True friends will always be in spirit together. Miss you and the good old times. Those days were really nice, hope to see coming days to be as nice as they were. Sometimes wish that time rolls back…back to good old times……… "Those days...ಆ ದಿನಗಳು..."

Sims..Cute Smile Always… :-)

Best of Sims

Howz this??? Happy moments captured for a life time… Collection of few memorable pictures in a collage… All these pictures are captured after coming to Bangalore. As always crazy with creating Photo Collage and here’s the latest one.
Photoshop and Picasa are the great tools for collage and of course if you like editing Photoshop is the best tool you can use.

Origin of "Google"

When we want some information.. we want to find something about anything.. we toss to Google to get info.. But whats the origin of Google..? Here’s what David Koller says..

“From time to time I read or hear stories of the origin of the search engine and company name "Google" that are incorrect, which prompts me to write this brief account, based on my understanding of the genesis of the name. The source of my information is my friends and colleagues from Wing 3B of the Gates Computer Science Building at Stanford University, where Google was born.
In 1996, Larry Page and Sergey Brin called their initial search engine "BackRub," named for its analysis of the web's "back links." Larry's office was in room 360 of the Gates CS Building, which he shared with several other graduate students, including Sean Anderson, Tamara Munzner, and Lucas Pereira. In 1997, Larry and his officemates discussed a number of possible new names for the rapidly improving search technology. Sean recalls the final brainstorming session as occurring one day during September of that year.

Sean and Larry were in their office, using the whiteboard, trying to think up a good name - something that related to the indexing of an immense amount of data. Sean verbally suggested the word "googolplex," and Larry responded verbally with the shortened form, "googol" (both words refer to specific large numbers). Sean was seated at his computer terminal, so he executed a search of the Internet domain name registry database to see if the newly suggested name was still available for registration and use. Sean is not an infallible speller, and he made the mistake of searching for the name spelled as "google.com," which he found to be available. Larry liked the name, and within hours he took the step of registering the name "google.com" for himself and Sergey (the domain name registration record dates from September 15, 1997).”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Koller (dk@cs.stanford.edu), January, 2004

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google

Nicholas Sparks –The author I admire

Every time I step into ‘Sapna Book House’ I just can’t walk out without visiting novel section. And every time I find a Novel by Nicholas Sparks, I’ll pick each of his books and think whether to buy and so. I always have a passion for reading, especially true love stories and Nicholas Sparks knows exactly how to tug at a reader’s heartstring. One day I wish to have a small library of my own at my home and all of Sparks collection will definitely be there.

I first read ‘The Notebook’ his first published novel. This has been one of the most romantic stories that I have read! A very special love and relationship that not many people find these days. It’s about true love story, entire book tells you about true love story, the most beautiful description of a boy meets a girl, and loses her, again find her, then loses her again. Its exactly how every person wants to be loved one day. This book inspired me not only about Sparks writing but inspired me to know what true love feels like. I definitely recommend this book to all and I’ve made my friends read this book.

‘Dear John’ is the second book by Sparks which I read. Not everyone who reads this story will like. But I liked this story, its light and it may not be enjoyable to read. This book has a tragic ending, which makes us think not all love stories will have a happy ending. The father and the son relationship is described so beautifully in the novel, it makes one cry. Love changes us forever is what Sparks has conveyed through this book.

This New Year when we played secret angel game, my friends and myself played a lot of pranks. At the end, I was gifted with this sweet story ‘Message in a Bottle’ by my secret angel, my best friend. This book is extremely romantic, very beautifully written and this book truly touched my heart. I loved reading the letters in this novel. I have read the letters in this novel again and again. In this IT era, I don’t find anyone valuing the letters. I definitely long for a letter from the love of my life (when I find my true love) to write me this kind of beautiful letter with all his feelings to me :P.

The letters written by Garrett with all his feelings to his wife Catherine, whose dead; are sealed in a bottle and tossed in the ocean. Inside the letter that opens with:

“My dearest Catherine, I miss you my darling, as I always do, but today is particularly hard because the ocean has been singing to me, and the song is that our life together…”

This book is wonderful, it will make you laugh to glory, cry, and long for love like this. You read this book and you’ll never regret.

‘A Walk to Remember’ – This book I started reading on a Friday night and next day morning I was done with the reading. It’s a neat book, true love story. When I brought this book, somehow I had a feeling that this book may not be great. But when I read, it’s amazing. The story is about a 17 year old boy and girl despite the difference of their personality. Fate brings two hearts together. When I was reading this book I was just wondering how powerful love can be!

And now whenever I go to Sapna Book House, I have to debate on how many books I should buy in a month. I have limited to buy only 2 books per month and I’ve already got 2 books for this month. One Book I’ve already finished reading ‘At First Sight’. It’s a nice story but not that great story too. It has a tragic ending, a man finds his true love at first sight. Somewhere in the middle of the story, I found myself in place of Jeremy where he gets so frustrated, unable to concentrate on what he's supposed to do, but then when he realizes his priorities in life, he gets back to normal. Sometimes, you just need to speak your heart out with someone who'll sit and just listen.

And the other book, I’ve started reading. ‘The Lucky One’ It’s the new addition by Nicholas Sparks, published in 2008 and it’s a thick book. So it’s a big story, so lots to learn from this story ;-)

I read lot of other books by other authors also. Recently I read a novel by Indian authors ‘Of course I love you… until I find someone better’ by Durjoy Dutta and Maanvi Ahuja. Simple nice story about college life which gives a message to move on in life. Its good to read good books, it gives lot of life lessons. “Jay ho” – Nicholas Sparks!!!

When I left Bangalore...

By the time I left Bangalore this time, I hated everything…I hated each and everything in Bangalore. I just wanted to reach back to Mangalore and never return back. In the last three weeks before I left Bangalore all I could hear around me from my loved ones was ‘EAT’, ‘EAT’, ‘EAT’. But ‘EAT’ what??? was my plight. For nearly one month I was not able to eat anything. I was just eating forcibly to keep myself alive.

In these two and half years, ‘Food’ is what made me hate Bangalore so much. This took me to the hospital too. Okay now, here as well, I could hear only one thing ‘EAT’… Sisters come with options we’ll prepare that…we’ll prepare this… Fine, I thought, I’ll eat something and I agreed for Oats porridge. Then, Doctor comes for rounds, asks the sisters what I had for lunch?
Their conversation goes this way:
Dr: What did she have?
Sr: Oats Sir.
Dr: Oats?!?!?!?!
Sr: Oats Porridge sir…(with an accent)
Once he left, sisters were repeating this dialogue so many times. It was fun for them..at first I was also laughing, but then…..

Staying 4 days in hospital I was fed up and lost all my patience on the day of discharge. I was expecting a discharge in the morning which didn’t happen. I just wanted to be back home. I just didn’t want to eat anything there. Sisters came with options again.. Rice ganji, Rava ganji, Oats Porridge, Soup etc etc.. I was fed up with all this. Only option which they didn’t have there was ‘Fruit Juice’. Finally, duty doctor came to pacify me. He was like, what you like to eat, we’ll do that for you. My response was, ‘NOTHING IS NICE HERE’… He was kind of excited with my response. He declared, ‘She doesn’t like to eat anything from this Hospital’, gave a smile and left the room. He didn’t leave me there. He asked the sisters to continue the Dextrose drips and followed by a bottle of multi-vitamin. Quite painful.. but it was better than eating something there at that moment.

Now, I’m home. There’s no ‘EAT’ mantra here ‘coz there’s no aversion in eating here. :) Saddest part is, whenever I’m back home, there was only non-veg food for me. And now, only veggie ghaas phoos. :( That too mom is worried what to cook everyday. I hardly eat hand counts of vegetables. But I eat whatever she cooks.

There are lot of people who come to Bangalore and they like the food there. But not for me. Then, my work which I love is pulling me back there. I’ve to be back for my work. I’ve to eat that food. I have to live there. This time I’ll be back with a change though. I’ll be back with a different view about Bangalore and the food what I’m going to have once I’m back there. :) Its not the best, but it’s not that worst too.