Life

Life, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
O why lament its fall?
Rapidly, merrily,
Life's sunny hours flit by,
Gratefully, cheerily
Enjoy them as they fly!
What though Death at times steps in,
And calls our Best away?
What though sorrow seems to win,
O'er hope, a heavy sway?
Yet Hope again elastic springs,
Unconquered, though she fell;
Still buoyant are her golden wings,
Still strong to bear us well.
Manfully, fearlessly,
The day of trial bear,
For gloriously, victoriously,
Can courage quell despair!

- Charlotte Bronte

Notes from Belmont-3

The first place that we went for sight seeing was FILOLI. This stands for "Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life.” Filoli Center consists of a huge mansion and acres and acres of beautiful garden. This place is almost 91 years old. I must say that the garden was one of the best scenic places I have ever seen. And the noteworthy point is that it is so well maintained. The tour was more interesting because of the spicy, peppered descriptions given by Charolotte ( our guide).:)

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The sky looked quite clear on Saturday. And so we decided that the day was ideal to visit the Napa valley. The drive to Napa valley itself was so beautiful. The places were strewn with vineyards and lovely, colorful roses. We went to two wineries: Domaine Chandon and Artesa. The tour at Domaine Chandon mainly focussed on the process of wine making. But Artesa was the treasure house of nature. The scenery was absolutely amazing. I was so lost in this beauty that I misplaced my camera here. Nopes, I could not get it back. I realized that I had lost the camera only when we reached Golden Gate and by then, it was too late.

For two days, I felt very miserable and depressed. I had captured so many beautiful pictures and I had bought the camera for this trip. I tried calling up people, posting messages on the Net about the camera and various other things to get it back in vain. Well, I guess this was the only downcast incident of my whole trip.:(

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On Tuesday, our director took us to this whirlwind trip of San Francisco. I must say that we enjoyed this part- thanks to our director who knew every nook and corner of the city. We went to the beach, the windmill, Salsalito ( Houses are very stunning here), Fisherman's wharf ( Loved the view of Alcatraz Island and sea lions), and Pier 39 and China town ( Shopping paradise).

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We went to Stanford University yesterday. We had a guided tour there and the guide was a student of the university. The architecture of the buildings are very appealing and the campus is so beautiful. It was a great experience to take a walk in one of the reputed universities.:)

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Right now, I am enjoying my stay at my aunt's place at Cupertino. I am relishing the companionship of my seven year old little sister ( She is standing next to me and asking me to change the "cousin" part to "sister":)))). I must honestly say that I am learning lots from her.:))))

So now I will bid adieu and I will keep posting updates on this trip. :))))

Notes from Belmont-2

New place, new faces, new setup, new country- many people expected us to experience a culture shock. But it did not happen to us. In fact, we thought that we saw lot of similarities between Bangalore and this place. But few major differences that stood out were:

- TRAFFIC!!!! People here stick to the traffic rules and the lane system ( Hallo, are my fellow Bangaloreans listening??). They stop at the STOP sign (!!!!!). They stop when the pedestrians cross the street!!!! And of course, they stop at a red light!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- ISOLATED ROADS! I am so used to the hustle-bustle of Bangalore. I am so used to looking at the overcrowded streets. So I found it a little strange to see the isolated roads or places here. And this roaring silence made me realize that I definitely love my noisy, lively Bangalore.:)

Notes from Belmont-1

It has been quite some time since I blogged. Probably it is one of the longest breaks that I have taken from the blogging world. :)

Am here in Belmont for a couple of weeks. The journey from Bangalore to this place was damn tiring ( Yep, still trying to recover from the jetlag). But it was a different feeling altogether when we reached this place. A different, developed country, clear roads, zooming cars, lots of greenery in between and the absence of the crowd on the streets hit us as we travelled to this place.:)

So far, so good:)) My notes will continue for the next 2 weeks.:)

I have always been a great fan of William Wordsworth's poems. May be because he was also a nature lover.:) The following poem has been one of my favourites:

FORESIGHT

THAT is work of waste and ruin--
Do as Charles and I are doing!
Strawberry-blossoms, one and all,
We must spare them--here are many:
Look at it--the flower is small,
Small and low, though fair as any:
Do not touch it! summers two
I am older, Anne, than you.

Pull the primrose, sister Anne!
Pull as many as you can.
--Here are daisies, take your fill;
Pansies, and the cuckoo-flower:
Of the lofty daffodil
Make your bed, or make your bower;
Fill your lap, and fill your bosom;
Only spare the strawberry-blossom!

Primroses, the Spring may love them--
Summer knows but little of them:
Violets, a barren kind,
Withered on the ground must lie;
Daisies leave no fruit behind
When the pretty flowerets die;
Pluck them, and another year
As many will be blowing here.

God has given a kindlier power
To the favoured strawberry-flower.
Hither soon as spring is fled
You and Charles and I will walk;
Lurking berries, ripe and red,
Then will hang on every stalk,
Each within its leafy bower;
And for that promise spare the flower!

Which song am I hooked to now??:)

It is "Chand Sifarish" from Fanaa. I heard it first on my bro's comp. When I heard it, i thought that Rahman was the music director. But then I got to know that Jatin-Lait had composed music for this film. But I donno why I still get the Rahman feel in this song.:) This has been sung by Shaan and Kailash Kher and believe me, they have done a very good job (especially shaan- this is one of his best songs). I donno about the rest of the songs of Fanaa. Yep, I need to listen to them before buying the CD.:)

May their souls rest in peace

Pramod Mahajan surrendered to death after a long battle. I was not an ardent admirer of Pramod Mahajan but still felt sad because of the way he met the end. As long as I have seen, he had always been a sort of PRO for BJP. I heard him in some debates and found him a good speaker. Definitely he did not deserve this kind of death, that too from his own sibling!
Well, sometimes one wonders how far the negative feelings can take us? Man's biggest enemy is man himself, isn't it?


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By the time we could condole Suryanaraya's death, the issue of his bigamy came up. It is sad that his family got to know about his second marriage after his death. And the worst part was that his first wife tried to commit suicide. Rather than grieving over his death, I thought people were actually fighting for rights over his dead body there!!!!!

Coming to the main issue, terrorism seems to have found its path through kidnapping, threatening to kill if the demands are met and then anyways going ahead with beheading. I wonder where they have got this idea that they will meet their goal by committing such inhumane crimes!!