Fanaa

You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket.
-John Adams

Yesterday night, I got a chance to watch the movie Fanna at Ajay’s place.

The movie is a mixture of poetry, photography, sentiment, romance, principles, and patriotism; all of the elements in good nature.
The lead actor, Aamir Khan, proves that he is invincible in dialog delivery and action. I get reminded of Kamal Haasan when I see Aamir’s movies. They both seek perfection. He is an actor who performs with panache.

Even though the shayari (lyricism) is platitudinal, it sounds exceptional and adorable when Aamir Khan recites it.

A couple of lyrics that I remember as of this writing are as follows:

Zindagi kay safar mein kisi ko itna mat chaho keh woh
Tumhari chahton ka kaatil aur wafaon ka saudagar ban jaye

Aag suraj mein hoti hai,
Jalna zameen ko padtha hai
Mohabbath nigaahen karthi hain
Tadapna dil ko padta hai

Ganesha Chaturthi - 2006

The Indian Students Association at NMT, Socorro has planned elaborately to celebrate the birthday of Lord Ganesha.

Venue: Los Pueblos Apartments, B #9 (Raghav’s apartment)
Aarti timings: 8:00AM & 8:00PM, Aug 27th to Sep 2nd 2006

Here is an excerpt from the mail that was sent out to all members:

"...we will celebrate the festival for 7 days, so it starts on 27th August that is Sunday and ends on 2nd of September that is Saturday. Visarjan will be held on the seventh day followed by a grand lunch. The place for grand lunch is yet to be decided. And the pooja will be held at Raghav's place(Los-Pueblos Apartment B # 9).

For all the seven days of Pooja we need people to cook prashad voluntarily and bring it before pooja. For the grand lunch on Saturday few people volunteered to cook food but we need more volunteers.
Aarti will be held twice a day(8AM in the morning and 8PM in the evening) throughout the pooja week."

The following are some pictures that I received from a friend.

Don't be discouraged

These quotes speak for themselves.

The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
-Walter Bagehot

Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is.
— H. Jackson Browne

Cops

With the school reopening for fall semester tomorrow, the presence of cops has increased. If the intention of the cops is to hide, they have to do a better job; I can spot them easily.

Wednesday
A car was pulled over on Leroy Place at about 10:00 pm. It looked like the driver was a teenager and all occupants were minors. The driver turned off the engine and the lights. The cop waited for his backup to arrive before enquiring. Nobody is safe on the street.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday
I have seen a pattern on these three days. A cop waits in the parking lot of Loma Vista Apartments on El Camino Real St at 8:00 am. A police car hides besides Epiphany Episcopal Church on Leroy Place at 10:00 pm.

Let us hope that this (conspicuous) presence reduces the crime rate in Socorro.

Smoke joining the dark rain clouds

Hole in the Cloud

Floods in Socorro

There were severe thunderstorms in Socorro yesterday, which was followed by a heavy downpour. Roads were flooded, especially Frontage and Florida. Here is a picture of rain water dripping in my office.

Today, Mayor Ravi Bhasker of Socorro gave us listeners an update of the flood situation and other arrangements done by the City to help the residents. Apparently, Red Cross is here in town with 40 beds. The Finley gym was made ready for night stay for people whose houses were flooded. He also mentioned that he had never seen so much rain in the last 15 years or so. The ground is saturated with water. I don’t hear that very often nowadays. Everybody knows that Socorro is a desert. Obviously, this monsoon season renders the following Arabian proverb false. “All sunshine makes the desert.”

Independence Day

He woke up in the morning and took a quick shower. He wore his uniform (white shirt, brown trousers, and brown canvas shoes) and went to high school. It was mandatory to attend the Independence Day celebrations at school. The principal (headmistress) of the school hoisted the flag. Then she saluted the flag and watched the band of scouts and guides marching in the quadrangle to the beats of drum played by Magesh (his friend). At the end of the ceremony, he gets a tricolor (Indian flag), a safety pin, and a chocolate. He proudly pins the tricolor to his shirt. Then, he preferred to go home while his friends plan for the rest of the day (study or play).

He was a couch potato. He came home to watch the Independence Day parade on the TV. It was followed by entertainment programs: a comedy drama, a medley of video songs from movies released during the Independence Day, an interview of a famous personality (usually a contemporary actress), a patriotic movie, etc. Finally, in the evening he decided to do his homework.

His mom cooked delicious food for lunch (rice, sambar, fry vegetable curry, and curd). She also made some sweets. After lunch, everybody in the neighborhood wished each other a very happy Independence Day and exchanged sweets (baadushah) and snacks (vada). This was the best part of the day.

It has been 12 years and he still misses those good old unforgettable days.

Dell Laptop Batteries Recalled

Dell recalls laptop batteries because they might overheat and catch fire.

This is definitely not good news for Dell. I had recently mentioned about the unpleasant experience with Dell Customer Service. I hope they respond well to attend to all the calls (estimated 4.1 million laptops).

I would prefer using this website (available from Tuesday Morning) for logging instead of speaking to the customer service.

It's picture time

It has been drizzling intermittently all day today and the sky is covered with clouds all the time. I have uploaded some of the pictures that I took today.

A tree behind my office
Look at the yellow spots on the green backdrop.

Birds or Green spots on the mountain?
It was a futile attempt to capture the flying white birds. But, I got the greenery on the mountains.


My new folding bike

Hell

Are you going through hell? Here are some funny, yet inspirational, quotes.
Winston Churchill said:

If you are going through hell, keep going.

Rodney Atkins(Country Artist) extends the quote in his country song:

If you're going through hell
Keep on going, Don't slow down
If you're scared, don't show it
You might get out
Before the devil even knows you're there

The complete lyrics of “If you’re going through hell” can be found here. I recommend watching this song.

Crime spree

Lately, I have been hearing a lot of criminal incidents. A shooting over the weekend killed a tech student, an accident on the Frontage Road killing a tech student again, and an incident where my friend’s brother was threatened at gun point in his own apartment complex are just some of them.

I am astonished at the ease guns are available to a common person.

Dell Customer Service

I had been using Dell products and services for about 7 years now. I always admired their design and engineering of computers. In my opinion, they built rugged and robust systems.

But, recent experience with Dell Customer Service has been annoying. The sales representatives, financial service representatives, and chat support personnel are all equally irritating. I have had enough with them. I am going official tomorrow with a written complaint.

Online vocabulary quiz

Wordflash presents a vocabulary quiz that is very motivating and yet helpful in building your vocabulary.

Sri Ramadasu

Due to popular demand, Indian Student Association @ UNM is playing Sri Ramadasu instead of the earlier advertised Vikramarkudu. Here is the new poster:

Rainy Season

Even though I was ranting about the problems caused by rains I love this season myself. It is cool, not chill. The weather is neither hot nor windy. Drizzles and clouds just create the right environment for creativity. The weather is absolutely gorgeous.