And yet again some more...

The journey that Radio-Idli has just started has become more exciting than ever. We can only imagine what heights it will reach as it matures each day :-)

We are now on CNN-IBN :-) Check out this link for more: Radio-a-tool-to-save-culture.
Damn neat...

Long Live Radio-Idli and us- the contributers too ;-)

Adding to that...

Hmm Radio-Idli is sure getting famous.. its becoming every Konkani's favorite and catching some more attention from Non-Konkanis.

Indian express had an interview with the Pune contributers and me was a part of it. It was a great! Check this link for article on e-Indian Express more and check this for Article as in the Paper.

Glad to be a part of Radio Idli.
And i believe it will be soon covered in CNN IBN. So keep watching for more :-)

Radio Idli getting famous!!

Hey All,

Chase this link for some latest News.. Radio-Idli getting famous :-)
For all those who dont know, Radio-Idli is a site where one contirbutes his Talent thru audio. It can be a song sung by him, an instrument played by him, some discussion, some gags..
Check out Radio-Idli for some Chutney Chats and Lokabhiram Phardi (funny incidents told by Lokhabiram) and Many more songs and instruments played by our very own Amchigele youth :-) Awesome piece of work contributed by all.

Great work done by Nagesh and all the contributors..

Home Sweet Home

Finally I am back.. Its great to be back home.. Great home made food to eat .. wow!
But i am shocked looking at the Traffic situation here.. The dust, Pollution, not to forget Noice ollution has made me go crazy.. :-(((

Will write abt that in detail when i get time.. smeohow i dont seem to get time here..
Had so much time for myself in the US.. even when i had to cook and take care of house.. yahan pe mommy does cooking for me.. n yet I am so busy.. doing nothing i guess.. just that cmuting to office n back is so tiring.. the bad roads, the bad buses and hence the jerks.,, has made my back weak again :-( So exhausted to actually to sit down n write ..

Will write some more again soon..

Shradha

Its a Beautiful Life...

Oh yes it is.. With all the compliments I am receiving for the song i sang.

For those who dont know what I am talking about..
A friend of mine started a Blog which is supposed to be like Radio-Mirchi having his friends sing a song or say a few lines.. a site where all can actually "voice" what they wanna say :-)

Here is the link: Radio-Idli. My song is uploaded there. Listen to it. The song as the blog-post title suggests is "Beautiful Life". Its original is sung by "Ace of Base". One of my favorite groups.

When Nagesh initially asked me to send just a snapshot of voice, i said No immidiately. I thgt i sounded funny when i heard my own voice.. i still think so :-)

Then, I heard the Song Lakshya sung by another friend, Ashwin. I thgt he did a wonderful job and that inspired me too :-) Thanks to Ashwin, i thgt of singing one too.. and I gave it a shot last night.. Sat recording till 1.00am and then gave it to a few friends to listen and waited for their comments till 3.30.. it was fun.

I enjoyed makin it!

Do listen to it and lemme know ur comments :-)

Some of the Macro photographs I captured.

A Tiny flower with an insect on it.

















Some Wild Mushrooms on the grass.












Thats the actual size of the flowers and musrooms on the grass outside my apartment.















Some beautiful Button-roses on my way to Office.













A Beautiful Button Rose again.















Small Flowers on the road side.












Closer View













Thats the size of the flower.. really tiny.













Tiny cherry like fruits on a bush.












A Close-up.















Some more flowers on the road side.













Aint it Pretty ??

Its finally time to return..

So after having stayed in Pittsburgh for 8 months, I am finally returning home. I am feeling so good.. Initially when i was to leave on 23rd Dec. 2006, I did not wanna leave.. i loved it here. But as the days came closer, thought of meeting my folks, sister, neice, friends and a few loved ones, made me wanna run back home. Since then, I have just wanna go back. My stay got extended and now I am leaving on 27th Jan. A whole month more.. but everyday i missing home more and more. Everday was feeling like a day of more than 24hrs. Just killed time.. Now I am counting days to go.

As i leave this li'l home that i had made here.. I will take some memorable moments, days and weeks. The friends i have made and every li'l thing i learnt from everyone here. Its just been wonderful.

But Home is Home.. i wanna go back to my loved ones. I missed them so much.. its time i went back. I will wanna back come again.. but for short periods.. not so long.. its lonely here!

Some things i learnt from my stay here:
1. Value relationships: Staying here alone, I know what my family means to me. I cant stay a single day without talking to them or being in touch with them. Same is the case with friends. Not having many friends here.. i missed my old friends.. When we r sorrounded with them, we take it for granted.. but here i m with noone around. All i wanted to be amongst my friends.. my loving friends.
Relationship, once built is so sacred. Be it Parents, Sister or Friends. Other than my folks and sister, who i missed a lot was my li'l neice. She was just 5 months when i left. She was a baby .. hadnt started to walk. Last i saw her turn on her belly and back. Today she walks, talks and in all this, she has forgotten her pacchi (aunt) which is me. I missed seeing all that my mom and dad saw. They have fun with her.. i miss her so much.. I am so so so glad to be back n will get to see her.
Made some extremely good friends and learnt so much from them.. will never forget them. Esp. my neighbour. Learnt alot from her. She has been an angel in disguise.. Will never forget all that she has done for me. Taken care of me like an elder sister. God Bless her always!

2. Responsible: Since the onus of house, the utilities is on me, I had no other options than to be responsible :-) Well, it was nice taking care of the house and be on my own. Paying bills on time, seeing that fridge is loaded with food .. well mostly with puddings and ice creams.. well all this is necc. when u r living on your own. I wont complain, I was responsible from start ;-) and so managed pretty well. But yes, all this experience made me understand responsibility very well.

3. Independent: Being on my own I def. learnt the Art of beign Independent. Made my own choices in many matters.. Had the liberty to buy anything and everything i wanted. Though i did consult folks even after being here that is different.. but yes, many things were my own decision. Go on your own, be on your own... hmm twas a nice experience.. not always though! u do feel lonely..

4. Faith in God: Being alone i always relied on God for any strength and peace of mind. He was my best friend all the time and esp. in the 8 months. I have learnt about patience, that time heals everything and yet again, if anything has to happen, it WILL happen and All that happens, happens for Ones Good and for the Best!!! I Love you God ! :-)

5. Learnt alot about how to Handle situations when it comes to relationships. I was very impulsive and short tempered. I have cooled down a lot and i dont judge on first impression now. I dont make conclusions at the snap of a finger. Will analyse and try and think from a different perspective. Have learnt to take care of relationships with lotsa attention and groom it in a way that norishes and makes the relationship stronger. Came to know what Love is all about. Learn the importance of Love, Caring, Friendship and Family.

6. Discovered a New Me in myself: Staying alone, having a lot of time for myself, I realised there was a different me too. Realised some of my hobbies and some things that I liked to do other than the regular work. I started to have an eye for nature and its beautiful creations. Even small flowers would fascinate me. The sky so High, the fog, snow, clouds and rain, the trees, the changing colors in Fall.. they all tempted me to capture them in my camera. I also started to write down my thoughts and views and so my writing hobby was also nurtured.
Its good to find a new you. I loved listening to good music and dancing. They were my passion esp. dance but now Photorahpy is also one of them.


And now after living alone and taking care of myself, i want to go home and be sorrounded with family and want to be taken care of ;-)

Rich country Poor Country??

Staying in Pittsburgh for so long, I hadn't visited the famous Carnegie museums. There are a few of them like Art, Science, wild life etc.. So now since its time for going back, I decided to take a quick tour wround Pittsburgh. I went along with my neighbour and her small kid.

The museum was out of the world. Will upload pics soon.. Everything was so unique and ancient. The sculptures, the ancient strutures, the differnt species of animals and many more. I was also impressed by the various paintings and art work by many of them until i came to the section of pictures photographed by an American. I forgot his name.. His theme was "India". I was impressed.. and Happy. Was eager to see what his contributions were..
But i was disappointed and more over angered to see them. His pictures depicted only the poverty in India. He had travelled to Mumbai, Jaipur and Kochi. And in all the cities he visited, he had managed to click pictures of just the poor.
He had shown the Dhobi Ghat of Mumbai, the tired dhobis after their work, some wada-pav wala on the street who was ragged himself with some black stove and kadhayee and the area around him filled with dirt. There was a picture of a sardaji, some old and poor men poorly dressed. Some typical lower class women, a balloon man, some people working in construction sites all covered in mud and sweat...
Not one picture that portrayed what India had to be proud of.

We have the Taj Mahal, the Qutub Minar, the various Forts aorund India. We have Grand weddings that display the richness and high class of people. Esp punjabi weddings or for that matter a Konkani marriage which today is as grand n pomp as a punjabi wedding.. We have our own Well-known industrialists. A shot in CCD or Barista would show the people how Hep and stylish we are too. He could have shown the rich and famous events and people in India.. But there wasn't a single one.

No wonder Americans think we are poor and here as slaves to earn money. Being in US now for more than 6 months, i can tell who are the geuninely nice people and who just show off but inside hate Indians.

I don't think its fair to depict just the poverty of the country. Our country has much more than that! I was not too patriotic as such.. but when people try to show that out country is miserable and poor and filled with poverty, I just couldnt take it !!

Do let me know your views about this. What are we.. slowly a Rich country or just a Poor Country ???