Is personal blogging dying (or dead)?

The single lines update (Twitter), short sentences (Facebook) or the newness (Google+) seem to have put blogging into the back seat. I have been visiting most of the blogs that I kept track on about 2-3 year back and they seem to have become silent.

A mode where one could put a detailed thinking, gather right data, share them with depth ... is being lost :(

Like the email taking over the snail mails. Technology is certainly moving fast !!

PS: Now I have to tag this blog so that it reflects in FB/G+ :)

Celebrating festivals

"Why is that we celebrate festivals" - This has been a thought wandering in my mind for quite some time. Thought of extending it more and blog it.

The snap I have here is of my daughter, Anagha handing over "yellu" to her grandmother. This is the usually traditional practise (in Bangalore, and if you were to be localite of Bangalore) to exchange "yellu" during the festival of "Sankranthi". Usually more popular among the girls, as they go around the neighbourhood during the evenings, sharing "yellu" and taking blessing from the elders. Being a boy, my only job was only to eat "yellu", particularly the collection we would get from the neighbour hood.

Some how this year it ended up being very different. My wife, Supriya took all the pains of preparing it fresh at home (as against to picking up from Malleshwaram, which is such a easy job). On the festive day, we followed all the rituals of pooja and began our trip of visiting relatives in the city. As Anagha loves travelling and meeting people, she was in an exciting mood the whole day. We just loved seeing her handing over our "yellu" and collecting them (was more happier while collecting).

The day ended with a good dinner (with all the specials sweets that was cooked at home) and a little sense of acheivement as parents.

Until Anagha was born (or until I got married), the pattern was so different from what we did that day. Supriya and I had put in all our efforts doing what all our parents did when we were kids. And I guess this is one of the easy ways of passing our culture and tradition to the new generation and (also) enjoying the same.

Running into my memories of Avedat, Israel

I was going through some of the snaps I had taken during my visit to Israel in 2004. This one posted here is taken in the deserts of southern Israel, in a place called Avedat.

Avedat was one of the key stops for the traders who travelled by the Spice Route (Route taken by traders for getting spices into Europe from India).
The residents of Avedat knew the desert very well and were the one who were guiding the traders in the desert. . Over a period of time, this places grew to become one of the key trading region in the areas of Israel.

As of today, this is just a tourist spot in the middle of the desert. One can see houses carved out in the moutain, and remains of a fortress on the top. There is a video (with English subtitles) at the tourist center giving an insight into the history.

This picture is taken in one of the houses carved in the mountain. Transition is one word that I can think of, seeing this picture. (Tuely reflecting my current phase, as I prepare for a long term assignment to US.)

Long time no see

Almost 2 months since I blogged anything. Was too busy with personal life and career. The major highlight being the birthday celebration of my daughter Anagha on 29th Oct.

Did some traveling too. First one to Chennai for my Visa, next one was to Portland for a business trip and finally to Pilani for my MS program. Yes, finally after a big gap of 2 years managed to get my post-graduation from Pilani. A sense of achievement which I would have not felt if I were to have completed it being a bachelor.

I am also back to my bed time reading and recently finished "Vamshavriksha" from SL Byrappa. In my next blog, I will try to put in my comments.

Now getting back to my code...

Saartha by SL Byrappa

I started reading Kannada novel from 2003. Saartha happens to be my first one. Last week, I finished reading the book for the second time and hence wanted to blog about it.

Saartha is relatively a newer book from Byrappa (written in 1995, while his first one "Vamshavriksha" was published in 1960s). Saartha is rich in Indian history and gives you a good insight of how India was in the 7th century AD. This was the time period when Vedic (Hinduism) was loosing its hold to Buddhism and Jainism. Islam was knocking the doors from the west. It was the time period when Adhi Shankara with his Vedantha, reunited people under Hinduism and popularized the principles across India.

The story is told by the main character - nAgHabhaTa, who is in search of his destiny. Being a well educated brahmin (under Mandana Mishra) and strong vedic follower, nAgHabhaTa still has the desire to travel and see the world. As per the Kings request, he leaves his family and travels with a Saartha (Vaishya's who travel in big group across countries buys and selling goods) to learn commerce and help build the kingdom's economy. He ends up staying in Mathura for a long period learning commerce and understanding trade to a greater depth.

Once he hears that his King has cheated him and has married his wife, his whole life takes a change. He loses his interest of commerce and gets pulled into theater to play the role of Krishna. This helps him see himself in a new dimension of love and worship. This does not stay for long and he get pulled into meditation to gain spiritual power. When he starts using the benefits for a personal gain, he ends up losing meditation. With the sole desire to gain power, he takes on Tantra. The book describes in detail of Tantra practices which would shock the new readers. Later love takes over and he gives up Tantra and adopts to Buddhism. He goes to Nalanda to learn in detail about Buddhism. The books talks about our oldest university and how people from all over the globe flocked in to learn about spirituality a Buddhism.

nAgHabhaTa then meets Adhi Shankara during his famous discussion of Vedanta with Mandana Mishra. The books talks in details about this conversation and how Shankara is challenged by Mandana Mishra's wife on Samsara, and how he manages to learn the same by impersonating the body of the King.

nAgHabhaTa is now in a dilemma between Buddhism and Hinduism. He manages to get back to Mathura, which is preparing for a battle against Islam intruders. He gets captured by the Muslims who torture him to accept Islam. That is the time period when he realizes what his destiny. Amidst all the torture, his strength and love for freedom helps him come out of it. He gains the freedom and manages to escape from the place.

If you are a Kannada reader, I would suggest you to read this.

The world is truely flat..

As Intel is preparing its efficiency plan and sacking employees, the impact is consistent across the globe. The impact is supposed to be of the same extent in Bangalore like in California.

It would be sad if such a thing would happen, but it truely depicts the global impact. As a true participator of global economy, we sure will enjoy the gain and the pain of the business.. and more closely now.

Why one needs Medical Insurance?

My father has been suffering from Asthama since 15 years, and very recently he had breathing problem. We got him admitted to MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital, as it was closer to my home. As his ECG was not normal, he was sent the CCU - Cardiac Care Unit for further analysis. A scan was done and a block was identified in his heart. As it was straight forward treatment of Angioplasty, it got done quickly and my father got discharged within 4 days.

The bills came to whopping 4.1 lac. I was shocked to see such a huge amount. I enquired the administration and requested for a detailed bill. And the culprit was my insurance. I mean, I could afford so much money. So they adjusted the numbers to reach that.

What if I were to get admitted without insurance?
It would have costed 1/3rd the amount.

Who is getting the benefit - Am I as an insurance payee, the insurance company or the hospital?

These are the advantages I have found with insurance -

* You do not have to worry about money.
* Hospital management treat you good.
* Doctors talk to you like a friend and are available for a quick conversation.

The sad side

* My father was moved from CCU the moment I indicated that I need to check on how much can I afford for the operation.
* You do not know what is billed and why? - "Why should you bother, when insurance pays" is the attitude
* You go through more tests than necessary
* You are encouraged to stay longer at the hospital
* More luxury than actual treatment... (do you need a TV when you are to stay for a day)

Well.. given a choice, will I use Insurance? I will certainly be doing. The insurance has been helpful in such critical times. I cannot think of running behind financial companies for loan rather then attending the patient. But at the some point, I wish that the money is not misused this way. I hope the hospitals become more service oriented than commercial.

At the end of it, I keep getting the thoughts that, this could have been handled better if I were more proactive. Kept track of what hospital was billing me, and making my choices appropriately (like choosing right bedding as needed).

Your thoughts are welcome.

Where do I start?

My very first blog.. hoping this would not be the last one. As I speak to people and read their blog's, it just sound so easy. When I started putting on mine, it took almost 30 minutes to decide on the blog name.

Why a blog?
Well.. I wanted an account to put in my comments on many of the blog I came across. And thought why not put in my thoughts in text. Put my opinion on how I feel about this world. Talk about how I feel about things and how I view this world. Why not share my experiences when I am reading some. Many times putting a thought in words help you understand yourself.