Ye mera India, I love my India

Yes, even one week after Independence Day, the patriotic spirit is high.. and is coming out in my special salad.. (which I made for 30 ppl ) Of course, some ingredients are not yet mixed... But, Hindustan ki kasam... Vegetables se pehli baar Vande Mataram!

self-explainatory

Natural Beauty

Jungle where snakes and lizards reside.


Photos taken with my Phone..

Venue: Farm House - 80 kms from City
Time: 7 pm approx.
PS: All the pictures have been taken with natural light.. :) (no artificial camera flash)

Small Step for ManKind..

In 1969, Neil Armstrong placed the first ever human foot on the Moon and uttered these words: "That's one small step for man but one giant leap for mankind." It was only one step taken by a normal man called Armstrong.. but where, how, and when he took that step; is the most important fact that has changed Human history today! The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA was established in 1958 under President Eisenhower. It was 'initially' put across as a fitting response to the Soviet Union's first artificial sattellite launch. From then on, thousands of specialists, astronauts, scientists,technicians and many more have been working in and around the world for about 45 years now to answer the simple basic question of "what is out there in space". As every mission of NASA is technically very complicated to comprehend, the facts tell us that what lies beneath the surface of complicated equations and calculations is far far more simple.

In September,1999 NASA lost a $125 million Mars orbiter because of a simple mismatch of measurement units. "Lockheed Martin Engineering team used English units, while the agency's team used the conventional metric system for a key spacecraft operation. The Units mismatch prevented navigation information from transferring between the Mars Climate Orbiter space team in at Lockheed Martin in Denver and the flight team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California." -- quotes CNN. Who would have thought that simple metric conversions that we learnt as kids in primary school would come handy in such a high-priced expensive complicated mission?

Coming to a recent historicaly tragic moment for many countries including US, Israel and even India.. for the loss of Seven priceless astronauts who perished aboard the space shuttle Columbia when it disintegrated nearly 40 miles above the Earth. The shuttle's remains and human remains were found in fields in Texas on Feb 1,2003. Such a great catastrophe could occur only due to some majorly huge technical mishap. But, when NASA sent an investigation team in search of something that is similar to 'black-box', although not with the efficient iron covering, the chances seemed quite grim for it to survive(even though it was a relatively small 40 mile fall). After a tiresome hunt, it was finally found intact(with the help of an estimation of the place where it most likely must have fallen with the help of the already recovered pieces around Texas region) in a small opening in one of the fields in Texas. Yet, NASA investigation team named it a pure "miracle" and a "boon" for the investigation to carry on as per plan. It was here that they circumfaced the actual cause of a gross failure of perfect entry into the Earth's orbit. They detected an intense heating in the left wing which intensified over the few minutes of entry into the orbit as gases entered a supposed "leak" in the surface of the shuttle.

By now, it had become evident that the supposed "leak" was caused prior to the entry into the Earth's orbit, which brought the focus back to the "launch" video. One of the videos placed detected a piece of foam falling over the wing edge during launch. This was a very common occurrence and was not considered to be great enough to create potential damage to the space shuttle. Still, followed by this clue, the investigation team set up a small demo of the actual 'left wing' parts and aimed at a likely 6th iron plate. The effect was only mild scratch. Not to be defeated, they further calculated and found the 'exact' location of the hit by the foam which was found to be in the 8th plate. A similar test was again done, with the foam piece (of about 1.7 pounds) hitting the 8th plate at the right angle..and lo behold! A huge 25 cms wide hole was created. It came as a huge shock...

Sometimes, I wonder.. if those seven astronauts' lives... including Kalpana Chawla...could have been saved. If it had been the sixth plate, the damage was only a scratch.. but as fate would have it.. it had to be the eight plate that caused death and huge loss. But who can argue with the Laws of Physics. Just like we can't argue with the probability of human err to be 0.1.. leaving 1% to chance. Reminds me of the time when an AeroPeru Boeing 757 crashed few minutes after take-off resulting in the death of sixty-one passengers and all nine crew members aboard on October 2, 1996. This Lima-Santiago flight took off and shortly enough was reported to be receiving contradictory emergency messages like overspeed, underspeed, flying too low etc. When the Pilot decided to descend, the plane hit the waters..and although there were survivors on board at that point, they invariably drowned. When investigation started, it was to everyone's suprise a simple err on the maintenance crew cleaner. While cleaning the aircraft, he is required to mask a tape on the the static ports and remove them after cleaning. Consequently, the removal bit was forgotten and even though 4 different people including the Captain did their routine-check up.. a simple usage of silvery duct tape resulted in an overlook so major.

Every person's life in today's world has become very competitive. We often look over simple matters like switching off the gas rightaway, or using a clean towel, eating healthier food, regular medicine intakes, condom usage, routine-check ups etc. These don't have direct effect perhaps.. but on the long run..it will hit upon you one day.. that ur small 1 second or 1 minute act changed ur future forever... Life's problems often seem like NASA missions to us.. and some of us fail to believe in the importance of simplest of things because of the huge burden of a bigger thing hovering over the head. Life's ambitions are big endeavors..but everything starts small. Everyone urges you to see the world from the hollistic view. Look at the world as a whole... look at the bigger perspective. Is bigger the better always? The bigger view encompases millions of smaller views. Every small view is unique and no matter how minute they are.. they "do matter". That is my conclusion for the day and I hope to tell you that even the biggest space institute in this world called NASA, which teaches man to look at this earth from the 'bigger perspective', needs the smaller things for its survival...

Hmmmm..

Music is playing in my new Sony Ericsson Walkman Series W300i to the glory of the night.. as the headphones are secured in my ears..listening to..jaadu hai nasha hai from movie Jism. I have put it in a loop...relaxing in the mood that has set in at 10:30 pm. I roll over and open the flap of my phone and quickly run through my message Inbox. After a quick glance, I stoop down to pick up ma AquaFina and take a few gulps. I fix the few strands of hair that has escaped my hair clasp. I ponder over the few conversations I had earlier with my friends online and on phone. Then I remembered one very vividly and I smiled at the thought of hearing my best friend's voice once again after a long break.. She sounded great..and pretty excited. Who wouldn't be..if you are getting married soon, right?

She got engaged a few months ago. She said she got news for me.. and she slowly admitted that she and her bf may tie the big knot real soon. Of course, we say 'tie-the-knot' in Indian style cause..it symbolizes the sacred thread. But, for her it was more of..exchanging vows..and then crossing the threshold. :) Then, I frowned. She had asked me enthusiasticaly..if I can be her maid-of-honor. Wow..! That was my first reaction. She went on to convince me about how she thinks no one would fit the bill as much as me.. and how she will bear the cost of me flying across the continent to America(!!).

But of course, Only If I get the permission from my Dear Parents. I rolled over..as the second stanza of Jaadu hai Nasha hai played soothingly in my ears and I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh. Somethings are better left un-said..and one of them would be to accept the fact that we can't be, as Indians, as free as these foriegners. But, thats a dishevelled feeling which I don't myself agree with at times. I guess.. calling someone an ABCD(American Born..CONFUSED DESI) does make sense. COnfused, we are. We dont hide it either. I tossed the hairstrand fallin on my cheek and swiftly searched for my phone..opened it..and stopped the song. I scrolled down the list and selected "soniye" song.

Tu hi tu hi meri manzil..
tu hi chaahat mei hai shaamil..

I looked out the window at the darkness staring back at me..and a shimmering light that passes by..Im guessing it was a car. I suddenly looked up to see a faint Moon. A lil voice inside said..

"... wat a stupid girl u are.. someone is offering u to be her Maid-of-Honor..do u even know what that means??"

Little startled.. i realized i really wasnt so sure. I got up and logged online. Swiftly did a google search, and found one website. It started like this..."Maid of Honor should be your closest friend - many times, a bride will choose her sister." Oh yeah, I smiled so wide.. like I have never done before. She's my sister indeed. and I luv her to Pits..something that I did mention once in my blog.

I scrolled down..to see more about the Maid of Honor's responsibilities..which it lists out like the following.

The main role of the Maid of Honor is to help the bride with the wedding planning... this can include shopping for dresses, addressing invitations, putting together favors and just being there when the bride needs some extra help, support or someone to talk to.

Traditionally, there are some specific duties that the maid of honor is to perform:

Host the bridal shower. Today, this is usually done with the help of the other bridesmaids.

Helps the bride get dressed on her wedding day.

Adjusts the bride's veil and train before she walks down the aisle and during the ceremony as needed.

Holds the bride's bouquet during the wedding ceremony.

Holds the groom's ring wedding ring until the exchange of the rings, if there is no ring bearer.
Witnesses the signing of the marriage license.

Helps the bride bustle her gown prior to the beginning of the reception.

If you are a Maid of Honor, the most important thing is to continually offer your assistance and support to the bride throughout the entire wedding planning process. We all need our friends - but during those stressful times of wedding planning - you need your best friend even more!

I was soo touched by this website.. that I felt like kissing the screen. My eyes literaly glowed to think.. of what lies ahead. I switched off the PC and returned to my pillow.
Soniyeeee....Sonniyeee...

The frown returned..this time oddly with a more disturbed feeling. I realized.. how much this would mean to me.. and to her.. and to our friendship.. and how I may have to still miss this golden opportunity. I decided.. I will just have to somehow be convincing enough to get this permission. I really don't know if i can do it.. but I will just have to try. With that determined thought.. I stopped the playing song.. unplugged my headphones from the phone..and decided to go off to sleep with the pillow on my side.

Strong wind rattled the windows as I tossed around and blinked my eyes open and became conscious of the fact that a ray of strong mid-summer morning Sun blaring through the curtains. I turn around to find my phone zinging alerting me of a new message received. I didn't even start to think who it could be.. because I know its my Morning greeting message, sent dutifully without fail by my closest friend in India. I read the message with half eyes closed..yawned and started to roll over and sleep again. When I felt like my friend's voice was calling me. I snapped my eyes open and wondered..wat was that.. I turned back to my phone to check the time.. and it was 7:30 am. I snapped the phone close and rubbed my eyes..when I stopped halfway through..and quickly opened the phone again. I hadn't noticed that there was another message. I open it.. and its from my girl.. she says she luvs me loads and she wants to wish me best of luck for everything. It was like a Deja vu for few mins... :)

I sat up and quietly prayed.. that she find happiness in everyway. This is a new stepping stone in her life.. and i want her to have the strength and courage to find this new turn as a welcoming boon. I want to thank her for being there for me.. for being my friend.. and for honoring me..by asking me to be her maid-of-honor.. and i want to show her my gratitude.. in many many ways..But, when words fail.. actions speak.. and I want to solemnly hope that I can be there for her.. on her big day.....