Wednesday, December 24

Merci beacoup

A big thanks to all for making it to the marriage. A special thanks to the maxxx group for giving us the lava lamp :-) … wheeeeee!!

The wedding went without a hitch, 4 hours of getting blessings and smiling with everyone tests your facial muscles and patience as well. Grateful to a lot of people for seeing this through. Photos to come soon. Meanwhile, feel free to check some of the photos that Amit has uploaded on facebook.

Monday, December 15

Shaadi 2.0

No, its not about collaborative marriage over the web :-). Amol gave me this crazy idea. We were discussing the Indian SMS site, Vakow which enables us to push normal SMS into a web-based RSS/Atom feed. There are about a gazillion applications for an RSS feed. Well, this is just one such mashup between a practical application of Vakow and Google Reader.

Well to be honest, the title of the blog should not be Shaadi 2.0, but rather Event 2.0, but since we are using the my marriage as the event to cover, I decided to name the title so, well ..  and this one is more exciting na? So here is what we did.

  1. Register on Vakow, get a username and have your phone number associated with that username, so that you can SMS messages to your Vakow id.
  2. You are on track now, and you should be able to post a feed … now that your feed is set, we just need to integrate that feed with my marriage feed
  3. Send me the RSS link, I will add it in my Google Reader public folder, and voila!! You can view the sample page here.

People who cannot attend the wedding in person can keep on hitting the RSS page for an up-to-date status.

Sunday, December 14

Saturday, December 13

Be Selfish

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How true is this, wish I could be that honest!

Saturday, December 6

Diabetes

International symbol for Diabetes

My father is a diabetic; my grand-father was a diabetic (may god bless his soul); my great-grandfather was also a diabetic. Diabetes is a Y-linked disease – meaning that it gets inherited from father to son. So much for parental legacy :)

Diabetes is an incurable disease. That does not mean that once you get it you are doomed … no, certainly not. The day my father was diagnosed with diabetes, my mother started learning more and more about the same. She was smart enough to educate us as well. Well, hope some of you benefit from this post as I did from my mother’s admonitions. 

What’s this? – Diabetes mellitus refers to the group of diseases that lead to high blood glucose levels due to defects in either insulin secretion or insulin action.

So? – So, that means blood sugar levels go through the roof, increasing your chronic exposure. In short, if not taken proper care … you are in deep shit.

Why Me? – It’s hereditary, so you cannot escape it if its in your genes. Might as well embrace it and understand how to control your sugar levels.

Now what? – Worry naught. The entire secret is in controlling your sugar levels (the implicit ones and the explicit ones as well). With explicit, I mean the intake of sugar and sweet substances; implicit are those which are finally broken down into sugar – oil being one of the major stakeholders. Monitor those sugar levels judiciously, reduce the oil intake you eat.

Change your oil especially if you eats Saffola or Sunflower (these two brands are a strict no-no). They advertise to be healthy oils, but frankly speaking, they are not!! Would recommend changing to olive oil (too expensive for some) or mustard oil (too smelly for some), well if you don't like these, then groundnut oil will do as well.

Exercise is also good, I am not saying heavy gym work-outs. Simple half an hour to one hour walks every day would do you good. Establish a routine. Normal life helps get your health back on track.

Eating certain items also help – 1 walnut a day, home-made ghee (sajuk tup), flax-seed (alshi), fish (halwa, bangda, surmai). All of these contain a chemical called as Omega-3 fatty acids. These help the body combat sugar levels.

Here’s looking at a healthier, happier and stress-free life.

Friday, December 5

New leaf

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An extension of the last post, but I figured – that it deserves a separate mention. So, here we go!!

On the day I touched Mumbai, one of the first things I did was back-up my machine and format it. Formatting is like a cleansing mechanism for me … like turning over a new leaf. A new OS, a new folder structure, my choice and my will to decide how I want to proceed forward. The data of the past legacy long forgotten and the freedom to take decisions as I want them.

Erasing all the baggage and getting rejuvenated for a new life. As I write this, it gives me a secret thrill … to be on the verge of a new year, in the middle of an economic crisis, without getting shackled to a conventional “job”. Have decided to benefit from the past years, and the advises given by friends … and here is my resolution for the new year (I know it’s early, but I intend on keeping this one).

To be more critical – because chalta hain does not cut it.

Think about it.

Home Sweet Home

Yes, the post is slightly late, but after all the action happening throughout the week, there was minimal time to post. Well, I am back in Mumbai for good, and am set on settling for good … no more travelling around for me. The stint in Hyderabad has ended after a good two years, feeling refreshed after a good week’s rest.

Did I tell you what a daunting task shopping for you marriage can be (honey, in case you are reading this, I am just kidding :-)). But seriously, when you lie on one side of the size-spectrum as me, shopping can sometimes become a tirade. All in all, glad to be home, in Mumbai.

So I bid adieu to the biryanis and the Karachi biscuits, to the Famous ice-creams and the Serengetti keebabs, to the unruly traffic and the relaxed way of life. Hello to Mumbai :) … to a life with family and loved ones.