I got this anonymous comment:)

Sharat said...

I know you from JNTU. I arrived here via Orkut.

The public image you portrayed in JNTU is that of a gold medalist, over achiever, all-rounder? and more notably "macho-woman".

I am simply amazed to see the feminine side of you. (cooking & vinayaka chaviti.). And so will many others...

Is it "transformation" or is it bad judgement on our part.

One things for certain...never judge nobody...

Now I can remove the '?' and say you are truly an all-rounder. Congratulations for your marriage.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Yes I guess you can;) Why would I deny the pleasure of being called an all-rounder;)

I did back-benching in JNTU and Francis but that was just one side of me:) Its an interesting thing though. I always did have excellent track record and acads, but also was most notorious for creating/causing trouble:D:D And the only reason my profs at JNTU put up with me was that in the end I was their pet. Yeah, I am also good at pataofying;) Ok, enough of this sick self-dabba:D

I didn't know who posted this, I mean what email etc, so I am having to reply with a blog. If you are from JNTU;) you will love my next post, keep watching this space:):D

Meetings and meetings and more meetings;)

These days, especially the last week, I seem to spend most of my time in meetings. I guess it had to happen to me sooner or later, the more years you work, the more deeper you get into the job and the more meetings you have to attend!;)

What is interesting though, is what I do in these meetings. At least I am not that higher up in my org for me to be "conducting" meetings. So in all the meetings I attend, someone else is talking;) And there are some where I have to play a significant part by talking too, but then I am not the one conducting the meeting. So what do I do with my time?

I think this got stuck since JNTU or in some cases even Francis'. While the lecturer talks away, you simply do your own thing. I was a front-bench person most classes in Francis' but back-bencher for some, especially English;) The trick is to make the person who is speaking, feel that you are listening to him/her;) And I think I mastered this art in Francis'. When Sr Jane Mary (she used to teach English Grammar;) ) asked any simple questions, I would just raise my hand and answer. While no one else did. The key is partial listening. Devote complete attention to the speaker at least for a whole minute, you automatically know what the conversation is all about. Then go back to doing your own thing:P So I would answer and answer till she got tired and then she would say herself that anyone but Divya must answer;) And that translates to? You guessed right! No more need for even those 1 minutes;) you've done your thing for today you can enjoy the bliss for the rest of the class:D I took it with me to JNTU, and we even improvised on this. I always was a back-bench person here and I would sit in the back bench withmy buddies, and we would solve HINDU crosswords, play games, draw cartoons and even have a live Juke Box in the back bench! Boy those classes in ECE were THE days. The way we terrorized lecturers;) Too much fun, hazardous even:))

This is precisely what I am doing in my meetings, just getting my work done while I sit at the farthest possible end of the table with my laptop making-believe that I am listening;)

Contentment vs Ecstasy?

The reason I am writing this post 5 minutes away from yet another meeting at work, is that I have been putting it off for too long;)

This thought occurred to me when I was cooking (when else;) ) last week. If someone was to give me a choice between [everyday, a little happiness] and [dull dreary days at a stretch with ecstacy all at once to compensate for all those days], which one would I choose?:)

Strangely enough I found it difficult to answer this:) After loads of careful contemplating (ain't I such a contemplater:D) I decided that everyday little happiness would be it for me:) Even if I have to forego the experience of that feeling of ecstacy forever:D I have had quite a few of those past couple years:D:D

My audience is getting wider they seem to say:) But this one is a good thought, give it a try! Till the next post.

Swimming!!..for a cause

This past Saturday (Sept 9) I was swimming for the Cisco team in the C.A.R Aquathon. It was my first time doing anything for a cause so I was excited:) Also it was a team of my colleagues from work which was another exciting aspect, we rarely meet on a Saturday:D

The Aquathon was at the San Jose State University Aquatic Stadium. I was told that it was going to be a relay across the width of the pool. Immediately I drew a "thinker" around my head (yeah the one that looks like a cloud, can be seen in most TINKLE books) and imagined our apartment complex swimming pool and was like, ha! that is child's play.

Only when I went there did I realize that this width was 2.5 times the length of our swimming pool in the complex;) We got ready warmed up etc. One of my colleagues, Enrique (he is the kid of the team, gets his legs pulled regularly;) ) warmed up by incrementally putting 5 inches of his body into the water;) So much so, it took him a half an hour to get completely down:)) We started the relay and my first lap wasn't so bad. The second one wasn' t b a d either. T h e th i r d o n e almos t d r e w o u t the breath from my lungs;)

The next few ones I tried to alternate between back and front strokes:) But over all even if it was tiring we were getting gaps in between our laps as it was a relay so it was ok. And at the end of the day we had fun:) Here are some pictures:)

Destination South Lake Tahoe!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This year for Labor Day, we decided to go to a place where we could jet ski, as I always wanted
to do it. I am not sure when we decided to do a second round of Lake Tahoe (last year we did it with my parents as they wanted to see snow) but somehow it got set in my mind:) Subhash wanted to go to a SPA resort so we could just relax and get pampered:P And I wanted to jet ski. So when Subhash asked me to decide and book something by end of Monday, I thought, why not go to a SPA resort where we can also jet ski;)

So I started looking around for ones in Lake Tahoe. My colleague at work told me that Tahoe was the best place to jet ski around here because its just so beautiful this time of year with all the glorious mountains etc. And boy! was he right:D

So I started looking at Spa Resorts in Tahoe, thankfully there wasn't too many of them, else I would have had to spend more time on research:) I narrowed it down to one place which seemed like a good fit as it ws right next to the place where I was planning to rent jet skis. Tahoe LakeShore Lodge and Spa. It seemed like a good place even though the website l little outdated;) I decided to call them and check it out.

I called them and asked for a room but they told me that all they had available was a one-bedroom condo on the first floor. Seemed like a good idea to take it except that it was way expensive for my budget;) But they told me it was facing the beach with the patio opening onto the beach (they had their own private beach) and so talked me into taking it:D I didn't know which days I should book for and then Subhash and I decided that we would just leave on Friday no matter how late it got so we could have all of Saturday to do the things we planned. Leaving on Saturday would defnitely mean half a day gone in traveling.

Friday, Sept 01, 2006
Left around 8.30 pm from San Jose, and arrived around 1am Sat morning;) It took about 4.5 hours to drive. We rented a car, the Pontiac Grand Prix, and so I was not that used to it, my legs were kind of complaining by the time we finally reached. We had some difficulty finding the place as it was completely hidden from the main strees (Lake Tahoe Blvd) and with some nondescript board which we completely missed on our first round;) Anyway we called to ask for directions and the guy was more interested in clarifying if we had a reservation as he could not find it! He said I had a reservation for the next night and the night after that but not for this night and next night, I was like whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat:O I said I asked for Friday night and Sat night and that is what I was told I had and he said no, you have one for Saturday night and Sunday night, I was like oh no! What a mess, he asked us to come over in any case and that he would see what he could do. He said he could put us up in some room for the night and then give us the room we booked for Sat night. I was so not happy with it but we went in anyway.

Place was looking ok, very dark anyhow, we went to the front desk and he said he somehow worked it all out and that he could give us the room we asked for. Yipppeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For a moment there I was so disappointed, I was relieved. We checked in to our Condo and we found it just like I thought about it, very good and so much on the beach;) We had the avakaya annam and tomato chutney annam and perugannam that I packed and took and called it a day, after all we had a lot to do tomorrow!!!!

Saturday, Sept 2, 2006.

Woke up quite early:) For a Saturday especially considering we slept only at 2;) Maybe 8, then we were trying to plan our day. I wanted to go out and have breakfast. We had our jet skiing and parasailing appointments at 2pm. So we wanted to go and enquire at the SPA about when they could accommodate. So we went out to have breakfast at Heidi's which was right beside our lodge. After a HEAVY breakfast we came back to the lodge and checked out the SPA. I was wondering what time it was expecting it to be at least 10, but found that it wasn't even 9 yet:) The day seemed to be going REAL slow which was good, I had a lot of things planned and lined up for the day:D

The SPA said they could accommodate us at 4. I was keen on going to the SPA only AFTER all the water fun, didn't want to get treated in a SPA and go get tanned out in the water after that;) So, we went back to the condo and were trying to figure what to do till 2 when the SPA called back and said they can't do a 4 and can do a 2 that afternoon or a 4 next evening. We were planning on leaving at 2 on Sunday so we decided to call the parasailing folks and ask then if they could accommodate us at an earlier time. I called and they said they could take us in at 11. So we got ready and went over by 10.45:)

Parasailing!!!! Yay!!!!!!! We were put on a boat with one other Indian couple. We signed our disclaimers (yeah, saying that we know we might die doing this but we want to do it;) ) and then set off. The guy asked us who would like to go first and I offered the other couple to go before us as they were there ahead of us:) We also offered to take their pictures while they were flying:) They set off and it seemed like fun:) We were going to go 600ft and this couple was going 1200 ft. When we saw them we decided to change to 1200 ft (50 bucks more expensive;) ). Finally our turn came and we buckled up pure laziness to go out and buy one;) )to the rope:D The started flying away:) It was fun to see all the glorious mountains surrounding Tahoe from the air like a bird:) So this is what birds feel like! We kept going higher and higher:) The other Indian couple offered to take pictures for us on our mobile (yes, we still dont have a camera, and also on their camera. This pic was form their camera:) Everytime the guy released the rope a little bit, it would creak and freak me out, I was scared I might fall into the water:P After about 20 mins, he slowly started bringing us down. He asked us before he let us go if we wanted our feet in the water while landing, we said yes:) So he got us down all the way into the water, one splash and then up again and towards the boat. It didn't last more than a second but was fun:D All in all a very new experience:) We decided to do things we never did before on this trip and that was number one:) Came back in the boat and asked for jet skiis.

After contemplating if we should go in different jet skiis or on the same one, we decided to stick with the same one. We took a Seadoo as it was more stable than a Yamaha and went faster apparently:) Subhash drove for the first 10 mins and then I took over after that it the middle of the water, scared that we might both topple into the water;) After that we went wave crashing with water splashing all over us. It was fun:) But if we would have taken the one hour thing, we would have gotten bored. Maybe we should race next time:):) We then came backto the beach (this was right next to our private beach at the lodge, all the while we were flying, we could see our little condo). This was we-never-did-this-earlier number two:D

We then went back, had just enough time for a light shower, We then went to the SPA. At the jet ski station Subhash accidentally picked up someone else's keys so he had to go give them back (they had already called when we just began to realize:P) and so we were a bit delayed but we were fine:) We went to the Elements SPA attached to the lodge. We both liked it:) So we decided to come back the next day for more! Me for a facial and Subhash for a leg massage:):):D We-never-did-this-earlier number three:D

We then went back to the condo. Were trying to decide what to do for lunch. When I was packing for Tahoe, I also packed some cookable stuff along with Subhash's clothes and mine:) So we decided to make use of my effort in packing and make "Dondakaya vepudu". I had carefully packed everything from dondakayas, onions, salt, chili powder, oil, ladles etc etc We made it together and then had a good lunch with Avakaya, dondakaya vepudu and majjiga:)

Good lunch, Subhash loved it:) And I was glad for that:D:D:D Then we decided to go to the beach and make a sand castle:) My first one ever! No picture of it sadly:) Then we played Frisbee for a bit after lazing on the beach for an hour:) After Frisbee, we came in, showered and got dressed and went to the nearby casinos. We wanted to go to Harrah's but no parking! So we went to Montbleu, which as far as I remember was Caesars earlier when we went last December:) Now the website says not found, which confirms my suspicion;) We gambled for a bit, only on the slot machines;) Then decided to have something in the casino itself. So we went to Del Sol and had some crappy menu. We asked him to make us something vegetarian and he said all they could do was a vegetatian Quesadilla and the Enchiladas so we said go for it. We had it, just were not hungry after the heavy afternoon meal;) Came home around 12 and called it a day:)

September 3, 2006.

We were to head back today but not until another session at the SPA. We woke late, went to the SPA around 9.30, our appointment was at 9.45:) We came back to the Condo only around 11.15. We were supposed to check out by 12 (I had asked for a late checkout) and so we got ready, packed and left by 12. We were not hungry but decided to have something, and went to the IHOP just down the street. We finished eating around 1 and then headed to Harrah's. Unlike last night, we got an amazing spot to park today, right outside the lobby:) Went in and gambled for a bit, lost all the cash we had, just on slot machines again. We wanted to stay a little longer so we had to get some cash;) The ATM fees was 6 bucks inside the casino so we decided to save a little by walking to the Wells Fargo ATM down Tahoe Blvd;) So we could gamble some more on the slot machine with that 6 bucks we save;) It was a long and good walk in the sun, on our way back though, we went into the first casnio on our way instead of walking back all the way to Harrah's. It was Harvey's, but I just discovered all the money we lost here went to Harrah's as well;) They both seem to be offsprings of the same parent;) My I should go into Casino business:D Here I wanted to graduate from slot machines into something where we could sit at the table:) So we played Roulette, and won about nett 60 bucks;) Then we went back to our slot machines as we had an older ticket for 7.50 and suddenly Subhash hit a jackpot and we won 40 bucks;) All in all we were at a profit of a 100 bucks;) We decided to keep away our lucky money and gamble another 20 which we lost;) Then we walked back to Harrah's I really liked one machine there, so we went there and further lost money, putting us at a nett loss of 85 bucks;) So we decided enough of this losing and started to walk back toward the parking. Bought some stuff at Starbucks (of course no matter who else you pay up to, you always have to pay up to Starbucks;) ) and then headed back. Had a pretty good journey back and came home around 9:) Cooked and ate and slept:)

Subhash had to leave the next day so we woke up and dutifully did laundry etc and then I dropped him off at the airport in the afternoon:)

All in all an amazing trip:) Three things we did that we never did before:) Yay!!!!!!

Vinayaka Chavithi, 2006

This year for Vinayaka Chavithi, I decided to be inspired:D I took inspiration from Kaumudi, who has been making her own idols for the last three years, four including this one:) Here are some pictures of my idol:)



Here is Subhash just before the Puja looking absolutely cute:D



And here is our setup after the puja:)


And here is our prasadam:D Yumm!!!