Wifey’s Web!

Introducing my wife Chitra’s home page / blog! ..

Welcome to the blogsphere, dear !

Add comment | December 31st, 2009 at 08:15pm

Amogh is one year old!, Trip to India & the economy!

Yes, over a month since I posted. Has been crazy lately. The US economy is totally down & its my first recession after entering my professional career.

Well the tech slowdown in 2001 too effected me any many in my age group and it was pretty bad. Almost our entire class lost an year due to the 2001 slowdown.

This time around the situation is quite bad compared to the previous slowdown, and USA is officially in recession. The major difference this time is that its not just the IT industry thats hit, but almost all sectors are hit badly. Specially the housing & the financial market here in the US. And in today’s world, everything is interconnected. So, people from all walks of life are impacted one way or the other.

On the work side, many projects are being axes or postponed, budgets are being slashed and people are more and more cautious when it comes to spending money. For now, I have enough work lined up for the coming months. Must see how it turns out.

In other news, Amogh, my son turned One on feb 8th. Time fly’s by so fast!

Like mentioned in my previous post, both Amogh and Chitra are back in India. … and I could not miss Amogh’s 1st birthday. So, I flew all the way back to India for a week! :) and it was worth it!  The special thing about the trip was, it was a surprise trip!. Only Chitra knew that I would be flying. So, it was fun to see the reaction of every one who saw me there on his birthday!

….even for Amogh, the day I landed, it took a while for him to realize  that it was his father who had suddenly disappeared from the scene sometime back. And then, after a few minutes, he knew it was his dad :) … and clearly seemed to be very happy that day.

The Trip was quite hectic — 30 hrs of travel one way — 1 week in Mangalore & again 30 hrs of travel back to Houston!. So for around 2 to 3 weeks, my biological clock was totally out of sync due to jet lag/timezone changes! But it was worth it.

Its a pleasure to see Amogh these days. He now walks and virtually runs all around very comfortably. …and has now started to climb the stairs. He blabbers in his own baby language! ….. and has become very naughty! :)

If all goes well, Chitra & Amogh should be here soon — may be in a week or two. Waiting for thier arrival !

6 comments | March 1st, 2009 at 08:56pm

Happy New Year!

Wishing all the people who (still) follow this blog a very Happy and Prosperous new year! …

The year 2008 was definitely an eventful year for most of us!…and for me, personally, it was a year that was not soo good expect for one good thing that happened! ……yes, you guessed it right, our baby…. Amogh. If not for Amogh, I wouldn’t want to see a year like 2008 again.

I hope 2009 would be better!

Oh, yes, one more news, Chitra and Anogh flew back to India this week. They celebrated the new year in Mangalore.

Chitra had to get her work visa stamped.., so she had to travel back. More than the visa, everyone at Mangalore was missing Amogh.. so we thought it would be good if Chitra and Amogh visit Mangalore before Chitra resumes work.

Everyone at Mangalore is happy! Wouldn’t have been possible if Chitra hadn’t taken the difficult and painstaking journey with a 10.5 month old all the way from Houston to Mangalore all alone! Love you dear!

Nothing more…

Again, wishing all of you a very happy and prosperous 2009!

3 comments | January 1st, 2009 at 10:35pm

Wonderful Creativity…

Now that i think of it, being in the US, I miss the Indian Advertisements! Well, some of the Indian Ads are very very creative…

Check out this Happy Dent ad…amazing creativity…

Here is the first version of the Happy Dent Ad (old one):

There are tons of such creative & funny ads — and I spent a few hours seeing them on youtube yesterday! :)

2 comments | September 9th, 2008 at 04:22pm

I am alive!

Yup, its been a long long time since I posted. So this post is to tell everyone that I am alive :)

Life has been pretty hectic off late. Moved into a new project and so far I have been liking it, and its keeping me busy!

On personal front, Chitra and Amogh are back in Houston and are doing great. Amogh took about a week to recover from the jet-lag, but now his biological clock is set to Houston timezone! :)

Its fun to see him learn new tricks & grow! :)

Add comment | August 16th, 2008 at 02:20pm

Back in Houston

It has been pretty hectic. The much anticipated vacation came and went past soo soon. Landed back in Houston on 3rd June. Well, must say the 1 month vacation was really hectic. Sooo many things to do, places to visit, and soo little time! Well, that’s how it is I guess!

Things done/Places visited in one month:

• Around 4 trips to Karkala – Visited Karkala Sri Venkataramana Temple, Tellar Devaki Krishna Temple and other deities, visited relatives – √
• Attended Karkala Rathosava (Carfestival, Teru) – √
• Two trips to Puttur – visited relatives, temples – √
• Trip to Manipal – Visited Relatives, MIT, and Manipal — back to Mangalore via Udupi – √
• Visit to Gurpur Satyadevata temple – √
• Visit to Chennai – For visa stamping (via Bangalore). The trip was uneventful. Amogh was pretty quite on all the flights. – √
• Bharat Mall – √
• Around 4+ visits to Infosys Managlore (Mangala) – √
• Upgraded home computer (in mangalore) with more RAM and networking support – √
• Setup a wireless network at my home – √
• Attended Swami Ramdev’s Yoga classes in Mangalore – √
• Pabbas – Chocolate Dad, Tiramisu, Parafait – √
• Cherry Square – Some like it hot – √
• Chefs, Prax – √
• Family Photos by Professional Photographer – √
• Most of Mangalore City, Kadri Temple, Venkataramana Temple – √
• Visited/met lot of relatives – √

Now that its all over, I am back to work. …….. and I am missing Chitra and Amogh. Both of them are back in Mangalore and will join me in sometime. I don’t know how Amogh would react once he is back here in US!…since he likes to have lot of people around. I have posted some of Amogh’s pics on my Orkut Profile! Check out if you are on my orkut friend list.

Well, on work front, I would be joining a new Project here at BP. So, kind of excited about it.

That’s pretty much it for now!

Add comment | June 18th, 2008 at 04:52pm

Nearing Parenthood and other updates!

Well, its been a long time since I wrote here. Its the first post of 2008!!! Hope all of you had a great new year.

Well, all is good at our end. Baby is due pretty soon, and both me and Chitra are geared up for the big event! The official due date is 21-Feb-2008, but anything + or – 2 weeks is considered as a ‘term’ baby.

It has been kind of hectic the past month or so… shopping for baby stuff, childbirth classes, baby shower(s) :) …. and so on. Well, the child-birth classes were pretty informative and helpful. Things like these are unheard of in India. In a way its good, and in some ways, its bad – as-in they give too much of information! Well, shopping for baby stuff is another story …. All in all, its been hectic and fun so far :)

Life would go for a spin for sure, pretty soon – for the good!!

Well, I also realized that I am not really finding time to play with the Wii that I bought a few months back.

So, decided to put it up for sale on eBay. Its a amazing game system, but I don’t really see myself sitting and playing given where I am in my life! :). So, if you are interested, bid for it! BTW, its still hard to find Wii’s here in the US! This thing still has very high demand!

Also, up for grabs on eBay is my Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Lens! I would be upgrading to a new lens pretty soon (Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM)

On the work front, I am still working for the same project that I was in. The work load is decent. Not too bad.

Well, the next couple of months would be exciting! :) More updates as and when I get time!

Add comment | January 28th, 2008 at 05:34pm

Widescreen LCD Monitor – V7 Series

Well, laptops are good to have, but after using them for over an year now, realized that laptops are bad for my eyes. Not if you use it on a proper desk, but the thing with laptop is, its too easy & convenient to use it when you are on the bed, and some how, in my case, I ended up placing the laptop too close to my eyes.

Well, I have been wearing eye glasses for the past 2.5 yrs now, and recently did a routine eye test. Obviously, my power had slightly increased and I think it can be attributed to the improper use of laptops!

So, this week, bought myself a 22″ widescreen LCD monitor (V7 Series). I have never heard about this name before, but found it via a deal site on staples.com. It had very good reviews, and it was well priced. Got it for around $238 (including taxes+shipping).

Its a pretty decent monitor, has regular VGA input, built-in stereo speakers, dvi inputs (no cables though – you need to buy them). Love it so far!…….No problems what so ever. See Updates below…

Also got Logitech Cordless Navigator Duo. So, now I have a full fledged ergonomic workplace at home.

Hopefully, that should help my eyes and my body! :)

Update 1 (9-Nov, 9 AM CST): After using the monitor for a few days, noticed that there was a low hissing noise, which used to start and stop randomly. Asked staples for an exchange – to which they readily agreed. Waiting for a replacement unit today. Will update how the new unit performs.

Update 2 (9-Nov, 7 PM CST): Staples folks screwed up. They are telling me that they have some logistic issues, and the monitor that I was supposed to get is missing from their warehouse. So, its only possible for them to deliver on Monday (12-Nov). Will update once I get the replacement unit!

Update 3 (14-Nov, 8 PM CST): Staples delivered the monitor on Monday (12-Nov), and also offered a $35 coupon to compensate me for the trouble. Haven’t yet got the coupons, but i think they should be here in a few days. The replacement monitor is OK so far!. No hissing noise for 2 days now. Will have to keep an watch for few days. Will update in a weeks time.

3 comments | November 4th, 2007 at 09:48pm

Infosys Mangalore to be called Nethra

Well, after waiting for years, the new Infosys Mangalore development center is ready for business. Its named Nethra after the river Nethravathi which is the lifeline of mangalore (and its pretty close to the river too!!) .

Unofficially, the center started operations on 15th October, with 83 people on-board!

When phase 1 is fully ready – it would accommodate upto 3200 people. And since its in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ), it means that certain percent of the people working there must be freshly recruited! Which is a great news to the entire Dakshina Kannada region. Phase 2 and 3 would bring in more growth!

This has been a much awaited project. Have been hearing about it even before I joined Infosys in 2002!

Kudos to everyone involved.  An official inauguration ceremony is planned sometime in the coming months!

Will try to post more pictures as soon as I get them!

Add comment | October 26th, 2007 at 03:23pm

PS3 Launch

Well, PS3 is all set to launch here in USA on the 17th November, and there are queues in front of stores to get one!

Yesterday, me and my friend had been to the local Walmart, and we found that there were around 6 to 7 people camping outside to get their hands on the PS3 console. Inside, we could see the PS3 console at display, with a notice above it directing people to the queue outside for it! There were only 10 Units for sale.

BTW, its getting very cold these days, and yesterday it was really windy! I have never experienced such winds before !!… Cold+Wind is terrible. Can’t imagine the enthusiasm of the people waiting in queue for the console!

BTW… check this site dedicated for Console Camping : http://www.consolecamp.com/index.php

I also read reports that people were placing Ads on Craigslist to stand in line for the Console/Black Friday sale!

Add comment | November 16th, 2006 at 11:29am