Am in the US of A and getting used to cooler climes, longer daylight times and my new granddaughter. We have been to Chicago twice now, once spending a day walking around and looking around and doing the touristy things like visiting Millenium Park. That was a pleasant day.
Last weekend we visited the 'beach', which is on the shore of the lake--Lake Michigan.
It was a hot day--91 F. [My children in Chennai were highly amused when I told them that it was hot here :-)] Well it was rather like a Bangalore hot day--very sunny and dry. But the water of the lake was ice cold--or so it felt to us Indians. But the water was packed with people, even little kids, playing, swimming and some just wallowing in the water. A large portion of Chicago seemed to be there, enjoying the sunshine. We had wondered about what clothes to wear, but out there at the beach we realised it truly didn't matter, because skimpy was in. We saw a whole bunch of runners--both men and women-- participating in a Susan G Komen 'Race for the Cure' for breast cancer, wearing pink shirts, pink ribbons, pink bands on their wrists, all dedicatedly walking/running although it was so warm. There were little vignettes of family life, from many different cultural backgrounds, in the deep, cool shade of the trees in the area, each a setting for a little story. I wish I could have lingered longer, but we were out with a little baby too--who was in a sling on her mom and it was too hot to stay in one place.
But all of it was interesting. Sadly, there are no pictures.

Off for a visit

So, there are just 4 more days, before we're off on our trip to the US of A. Our bags are almost packed, cept for some last minute stuff. Haven't been out of this country for 17 years now. Wonder how the long flight will be and what it will feel like to be in a foreign land after so long, cos I guess I've got kinda entrenched in my comfort zone in these 17 years.
Waiting to see how it will be.

What are you?

A while back, my daughter told me that she thought I gave up easily. I agreed with her then. I thought about it a great deal later and came to the conclusion that I really did not give up that easily about things that really mattered to me (the way I wanted to bring up my children for example). But I've never been confrontational. I think of myself as water--a meandering stream flowing peacefully along. If a stone is thrown in its path, the water flows around it or wears it down with gentle, persistent erosion. I have dealt with most of my life like that.
So tell me, what element do you feel you are?

One up for some of us!

Saw this article in the NY times online. Isn't that great!

'Know that the Self is the rider, and the body the chariot;that the intellect is the charioteer and the mind the reins.
The senses, say the wise, are the horses; the roads they travel are the mazes of desire...............
When a man lacks discrimination and his mind uncontrolled, his senses are unmanageable, like the restive horses of a charioteer. But when a man has discrimination and his mind is controlled, his senses, like the well-broken horses of a charioteer, lightly obey the rein.'

(Excerpts from the Upanishads, translated from the original Sanskrit by Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Mancherster)

I have been reading from this translation of the Upanishads in the last week or so and letting the words flow into me. But these particular sentences absolutely gripped me and I wanted to share it with you all. What a wonderful picture! It solidifies so graphically, such an abstract idea. I hope that one day my senses will be the 'well-broken horses of a charioteer'.

MJ

From the Net I see that for many people out there, Michael Jackson's death has been a personal loss. I can see that for people of MJ's generation, he was the icon in their lives and he was certainly a prolific musician in his younger days.
To me it hasn't meant so much--after all, I got to hear him when I was already in grad school and thought him a kid's wonder, though the fact that he was so young and singing so well was to be appreciated.
He was really good in his early days. But the last few years, after his plastic surgeries, I just couldn't even bear to look at his face. To me the grotesque, pathetic mask he became was a lesson to us all on the tragedy of someone not wanting to be themselves. He was surely a sad and tortured person. May he now find the peace and contentment that he seemed to have been seeking all his life.

An award

This award was given me by La Delirante. Thanks so much La D! I want to give this to all the blogs on my blog roll, because they are all lovely blogs, each in their own way. I love you all.