State of the Union address 2007!!

Last night I literally ran to the parking lot and rushed back home just to reach on time for the State of the Union address. I wanted to watch it right from the beginning and not miss a single minute. I reached home a couple of minutes late but luckily the president had not arrived by then. That's how I finally got to see Pres. George Bush's sixth State of the Union address. I wanted to watch it so badly not because I understand all about our government's domestic and international policies, but just because I wanted to watch this speech live on TV since a long time. I missed all 5 previous ones and this year I was determined to not miss it. I know it is not a big deal, one can always read the speech text later. I think I wanted to get a feel of this big annual ritual where the entire nation listens to the president speak, listens to all the promises that he makes for the year ahead and his remaining term. On the whole it was an interesting experience. I am not qualified enough to comment on the policies that he spoke about but this link below has an analysis and fact-checking of the state of union address: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6994676
The President's speech text can be found at this link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6970491

For me the most amazing part of the speech was the standing ovation. I thought the president gets such response a couple of times during this speech, but on the contrary, there was one every 4-5 minutes. That was just amazing. Well I am not sure if the audience really felt that way or it was just a part of the ritual.
The other nice thing about this speech was how the president started it by saying that he is the first president ever to start his address with 'Madam Speaker' as Rep. Nancy Pelosi is the first woman speaker of the house. That must have been a great moment for the speaker.

In all, I am glad that I finally watched the State of the Union address live on TV.

"Finders-Keepers?" - book!!

Yesterday was "Snowday" (i.e., little snow mixed with sleet and freezing rain in Dallas-Texas is quite a big deal) and hence my University was closed. I felt like a kid all over again as I was keenly watching the closings on TV hoping that UTD will remain closed for the day. Not that it mattered, but I was quite happy when I finally saw the email about university closing due to inclement weather.

As I was enjoying my snow-day, I happened to see the book "Finders-Keepers? A True story" written by Robert Arnett for children. We bought this book as a future gift for our niece. This book won a number of awards. It has an excellent message for all age groups. It is a true story about a little boy in Mt.Abu - Rajasthan, that happened during the author's visit to India. The boy found the author's wallet on the road and returned it him. The author offered him a reward in return but the boy refused to take the reward. The boy told the author that he should not be rewarded for doing the right thing. A very heart-warming story with a wonderful message that we should not expect rewards for performing our duties.

This can be a good gift for kids. It has beautiful illustrations by Smitha Turakhia and nice description of Mt Abu. On the whole a good read for all ages.

"Chanakya" - TV Series!!

Recently I finished watching 'Chanakya', the epic story of a great minister who was the founder of the first Indian empire around 300 BC. I watched this series when I was a kid, but hardly understood it then. I finally got to watch the entire series again and loved it. It is amazing to know the story of Vishnugupt (also known as Chanakya) an intelligent and self-less man, a great teacher and a shrewd minister.

Vishnugupt was from Patliputra which was ruled by Nands at that time. As a kid he got to see the corrupt nature of the Nands who cared only about themselves. Vishnugupt's parents get killed when they raise their voice against corruption. There was not much he could do as a kid and hence he went away to Takshashila to study which was considered the best school at that time. Vishnugupt completes his education at Takshashila and due to his excellence he gets invited to continue as political science teacher there. He becomes one of the best political science teachers of the country. He authored the famous 'Arthashastra' where he discussed his view of politics.

The remaining series shows how Vishnugupt meets a kid by name Chadragupta. He sees great potential in the kid and takes him to Takshashila and educates him. Then begin the invasions by Greeks headed by Alexander. Alexander gradually takes over major portion of India starting from the northern most states and slowly trickling down. He takes over these states either through a battle or through peace talks with the local rulers who give away their land to satisfy their petty and selfish interests. When the country is in a turmoil with its rulers trapped in their selfish interests, Vishnugupt raises his voice for a united Indian empire. It was his life long dream to see all the states of India united as an empire so that our strong diverse culture remains intact and outsiders don't invade and take over the country. He inspired all the teachers and students around the country to fight against the Greeks. He raised an army of students led by Chandragupt who drove the Greek invaders out of India. He then spoke to all the rulers of individual states about uniting into one big empire. In the process he also overthrew the corrupt ruler of Patliputra and replaced him with Chandragupt. He also served as Chadragupt's minister in Patliputra.

Chanakya's policies and methods were radical and hence many did not agree with him at that time and probably now as well. But I admire him as he was a great visionary who could think beyond the present. He was able to think for the future of the country and its countrymen. He had no selfish interests, and believed that the teachers of the nation should raise their voice when the rulers do not perform their duties.

It is a good TV series and I recommend it to anyone interested in knowing how rulers in the BC's dealt with politics, and what was involved in forming the great Indian empire around 300 BC. But let me warn you that you need to be very patient when you watch this series. It was made in 1990's when TV production was not as advanced as it is today. There are many parts which are very slow and test your patience. The battle scenes get dragging. But at the same time the dialogue and speech delivery especially by Chanakya are excellent. The language is deep and intense, dialogue delivery is fast, with complicated Sanskrit words. Though I am quite well-versed with Hindi, I had to read the English subtitles to understand it thoroughly. Chanakya's speeches to his students, rulers, and the masses is the best part of this series.

Uttishtha Bharata!! (meaning Rise O India)

New Year 2007!!

Here we are at the beginning of another New Year. I am back after a long time. During the last six months I took a 6 week vacation to India. As soon as I was back from India, the holiday season started with Thanksgiving followed by Christmas and New Year. Ajay and myself spent the Christmas week in South Florida. The weather in South Florida at that time was simply unbelievable - upper 70's and lower 80's. It was a very good time to be there. I will write more about that trip in one of my subsequent posts.

At the beginning of every new year I make some resolutions. Of course, I am not always successful at keeping them. But I still like to make them with the hope of keeping them. I mentioned in one of my previous post, I believe in the 'power of the word'. I believe that it helps to tell people around us about our resolutions or things that we want to accomplish in future. So here I am listing my resolutions for the year 2007.
1. Losing 15 lbs (one of the most common resolution)
2. Get done with my PhD
I've started working on both these resolutions. After lot of deliberation, we bought the "Image 9.5 elliptical". It took 4 hours for Ajay and myself to assemble it. Finally, it is up and running and so far I am happy with it. This year I am quite determined to fulfill these resolutions.