Say J for J.............. and not H.. please

I still distinctly remember the first time when we learnt that we were going to have twins... Our family world was filled with joy, excitement, anticipation, worries and what not.. We started to get ready to welcome our double blessings into this world. Along with the usual preparations, came the very interesting part....choosing the names... Now we needed to have two boys and two girls names ready. Just like any other new parents, me and my husband spent hours discussing names. We must have probably gone through several hundreds names . Our criteria were very simple... names with the good solid meaning and aspiration. We very well knew that our babies will be Global Citizens born and raised in US . We wanted the names to be unique and true to our cultural identity. And above all, the names should be very simple to write and pronounce , we certainly wanted to avoid their names and spellings getting butchered every time they introduced themselves. So when they were born, we named them Rajan and Tejas... it was good to have a common letter but not make it too rhyme. We absolutely love the names. And for us both these names are very easy and straightforward to read, write and pronounce.... In the Hospital, their name tags were put on their cribs and the trend began... a lot of people stopping by, including those caring , loving nurses started to call them Rahan and Tehas...At first, I was ok about explaining them that they are not Rahan and Tehas they are Rajan and Tejas. Say it just like its spelled J for J and not H.... I know in Spanish language, you pronounce J for H e.g. Jose is actually called Hose and so on. Me and my husband have both learnt Spanish language a little. So we know this. But we are not Hispanics.. we don't look like them, talk like them... I have nothing against them.. We do know a lot of wonderfully cultured Hispanic people. Funny thing is that none of them mix H with J... They know these are Indian names and we call J for J and H for H. I do not understand why average American will start saying H for J. Why would you mix English and Spanish on inconsistent basis ? I am used to getting my name butchered every time I introduce myself( presumably unintentionally, I suppose) I absolutely love my name and won't change it for anything. When I was born, my parents weren't world travellers. They chose the unique, meaningful name they liked and I am very thankful to them for giving me my beautiful name. I can understand its harder to pronounce for this side of the world and I am very patient in explaining it. What I don't understand however, is the typical stereotypes and ignorance. By any stretch, Rajan and Tejas are not hard names to pronounce . Keep it plain, simple English-- J for J and not H. In this culturally diverse country, do respect the fact that we are Indians and my boys are Rajan and Tejas . If you don't want your Jack to be Hack, Jill to be Hill and Jim to be Him, then don't make my boys rahan and tehas either.... Peace ! Prajakta

Right Time-Wrong Clock

My father looked at one of the clocks I had and said its wrong clock. By habitual default, I thought it needs battery change. I remembered I had just changed battery a few weeks ago.. ( btw, can you think of any other boring, time consuming and repetitious task than changing those batteries and adjusting all those clocks to daylight saving schedules twice a year ? ...really think about how many clocks, watches we change back forth ... car clocks-several hand watches-wall clocks-all those digital clocks on ovens, timers, thermostats and what not. What a waste of time to be on time ! I wonder all those celebrities who boast their closetful of fancy watch collections have someone on staff just to change those clocks back and forth twice a year ;)) anyway, going back to my original story, I glanced at other digital clock and it looked like the timing was correct. I looked at my dad with question mark on my face . He said clock is wrong, not the time..so now with elevated curiosity, I stared at the clock again and there it was.... Can you tell? Ok.. Let me explain, Number 4 on the Roman Number clocks should be IV not IIII.. remember those school days when we learnt all those letter and numbers? and yes I did confirm on google that # 4 in Roman is indeed IV and not IIII. So the clock design is wrong. Now I have come across several clocks and watches that are wrong and I don't believe its creative unique design type of funda to be wrong either.. Paying attention to minute details matters.. one of the many valuable lessons I learned from my dad. And did I mention that I strive to be perfectionist ? So friends, sure you always want to be right place at right time ...BUT check your clock...there is a chance it maybe wrong. Oops !

Fragrant Fall Colors

A glimpse of nature's splendor starts to evolve around early October. The day starts with mild autumn tone coupled with crisp, cool and refreshing chill. Every fall, nature puts on a brilliant color spectacle around us. From bright yellows to vibrant reds, the leaves transform, showing their rich striking and vibrant hues.. The once green trees of spring and summer alter their appearance, displaying such warm colors as fiery red, golden yellow, glowing orange, and rich brown. The whole atmosphere is so beautiful so breathtaking so splendid !

Do you remember the distinctive smell of the earth when it rains for the first time ? The pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain drops after a dry sweaty, muggy spell of heat.. It's been over a decade I left India but I still remember that smell. For that matter, I think India is very fragrant country. (Just to make myself clear, I am not talking about all the distinct odors, sniffy smells etc ...ouch... that's a whole different story...I am talking about aromas, fragrances :) Those small flowers like Tuberose, Jasmine, Gardenia, Roses.. tiny delicate flowers packed with powerful fragrance. When the wind whisks away their scents, they make you stop and acknowledge their presence. In US, there are very pretty, beautiful flowers but they lack that powerful fragrance. I have a Jasmine plant and it blooms with 20-25 flowers at a time.. But you almost have to put your nose on it to smell it. Back in India, I am sure it will bask the whole building with its smell.

And now the idea struck my mind..what if we got best of both worlds for both sides of the world ? What if trees and plants in Indian subcontinent started showing beautiful fall colors before they shed their leaves for winter... and what if all those pretty flowers in US side of the world started smelling ? Won't it be ideal ? I know if I Google it, there will be hundreds of pages explaining what happens why and why it's not possible... I don't want to hear all that scientific explanation... I just feel everyone should get to enjoy these natural wonders all over the world. No marketing gimmicks, no profiteering.... Just a refreshing moment to forget everyday hectic chaos.... a brief pause to take a breath and be thankful for common blessings of life.

Delightful Priceless Pleasures-courtesy Nature !

Riding the wild Dow Jones

Today was another crazy day on wall street... just watching it on computer...Dow moved 400+ points both direction throughout the day... It was another wild day of wide swings, heavy buying and selling, high volatility and high volume..In a such a sea-saw day, the lucky day traders must have made a killing. They say gambling is an addiction... what is playing in the stock market then? With complete understanding that its tough on economic front, global front, housing front...all those fronts.. billions were still bet and today was right bet.. I am not sure if the conventional wisdom, financial/ statistical analysis and all that bookish knowledge pays off more or just lil luck and ability to handle risk still brings in the fortunes? But all I know for sure is sitting on the sidelines is not an option. Period !

Inevitable

I was driving my car, and notice the pale red battery light on the dashboard... Oops… battery must be about to give up.. I make the next stop, check the manual.. The manual says that “ Red indicator suggests that battery is not charging up , take it to the nearest service center”... I drive back home. I tell my husband ... we both agree that we should take it to service asap... We definitely don’t want car to break down in middle of busy intersection, get a tow... and all that mess. Plus we have a warranty on the battery!! Drizzle and cloudy skies start the day early next morning. I suggest my husband to take the car to service center. After all, macho man is better there than a pretty woman... (how prejudice me ;) He takes the car to the service center….. By now, the rain has picked up a lot. The auto technician checks the car and of course, its not the part that's warranted, its something else... well, we have no choice...car needs to be fixed... But auto guy also tell him that the station is very busy and they won't be able to fix it until late afternoon. The guy assure him that the car is perfectly drivable and there should be no problem for several more miles.... he calls me to tell the situation...decides to come back.. hurray lets make it a rain day for work…… we plan to go out for lunch and drop off the car after that.......I am expecting him back home in about 15 mins.... I decide to get ready.... 20-25 mins go by... he's a no show... I am starting to wonder and my phone rings... It’s him in frustrated voice on the other side...... the car indeed broke down... battery completely dead... luckily, he managed to stir it away from the busy road...but now, he's stuck in the middle of the house and the center..... I call the tow truck, get in the other car, find him , we wait for the tow truck , get the car towed to the center ...the same technician greets us and towed car with the big surprised face ......It’s raining very hard now...we come back home all soaked, wet and frustrated ....Everything that we wanted to avoid, happened precisely-exactly- sequentially :-l The destined inevitable beat the proactive planning, execution and expert advice this time and I sincerely hope it’s the last time............

American Sports and World Championships

I am married to a sports affectionado whose one of the dreams is to own the season box seats of every game in town...nice dream but hindrance is that I dream of going to all those games in Limo ;) very stylish isn't it? so you see, there's dreaming big individually and there is dreaming bigger jointly... so currently we settle in watching it on TV :( Anyway, I have been watching a lot of American sports on TV regularly, can make sensible comments about it..not only about size, clothes, styles, shoes, cheerleaders but also about strategies, play calls, schedules and what not.. anyone listening? :o Sports seem to be the passion of America. Every season, every month, one or other thing is on...Folks are extremely passionate about the teams...some probably live their lives with it..I sometimes wonder how can you be so much passionate about it? I can understand about players.they make their name, fame, money with it ...but fans? I may never know that... End of September is around corner and everywhere I start to hear about World Series..then comes the foot ball ( American football mind you, not Soccer ) and by end of January, we will hear about the World Championships. same for the Basketball and Hockey ( again ice hockey.. not the other hockey other parts of the world play) . The team winning the final game is called " WORLD CHAMPION" . News media goes gaga over it..Championship rallies , fanfares ...the hometown of World Champions goes fanatically crazy........No doubt, its very entertaining but I am curiously amazed by the title " WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP" ... how a game between two American professional teams ( sometime even across the town teams) qualifies to be World Championship? for sports like Baseball or ice hockey, half the world probably doesn't even know what it is... yet no one seems to mind it here... I wonder if it is confidence or arrogance ? The line in between is very thin... if you like it its confidence, if you don't its arrogance..Or is it reflections of decades of economic / military world dominance? Or a classic example of Big fish in small pond?

Taking a plunge....

My first ever blog post... finally taking time to type my thoughts... wish somebody could develop a software like " Think and Type " ... well till then just trying to jot down my wandering imaginations and straight forward thinking...After years of formal education and experience in Business environment , trying to see if I can still unleash my creativity... Either it will be motivational or witty or both....