I'm Married!

Okay, I'm really late about this news! Sorry about that!! You know how busy life becomes once you're married! :)

So, I got married on the 18th of November, 2010, in Chennai. Its been a month now, and its been great being married!!

Well, as you know, I came to Chennai in August. Restarted my dancing and managed to give a few dance performances and it was amazing!!! I felt so wonderful to be able to dance on the stage after a loooong time!!! Then, on November 11th, we had the formal Betrothal Ceremony, and on November 16th, the mehendi ceremony, and the pre-wedding engagement Nichyathaartham and reception on the 17th, and finally the muhurtham on the 18th. And the week following that, we had a couple of temple visits. I'm so glad that we could visit Guruvayoor and do the thulaabaram! And the week following that, my hubby had some official work at Bangalore, and we were there for two weeks, came to Chennai for about 5 days, and then back to Bangalore again! We're still here at Bangalore! Oh by the way, while in B'lore, I managed to meet two of my good friends - one is a best friend from my high school (Chettinad Vidhyashram) and the other from my college (KCG College of Technology). It was great meeting them after a looooong time!!!

Coming back to today, since today is Thiruvaadirai, I had to perform the customaries, but unfortunately, I am stuck here in B'lore! So, I went to my aunt's place here, and did the little neivedhyam thing and ate the Kali and Thalagam. Hopefully from the next year, I should be able to do it in the proper way - by wearing the nine yards and preparing the items on my own, in my own apartment/house!

So anyway, will catch up soon!!! Got a lot to blog about!! Maybe I should start blogging about life as a Mrs!! :) I'm thinking of starting a blog wherein I include things like what events we have, poojas, special days, festivals etc for a young newly married woman. I am sure a lot of girls like me would be wondering about that and calling up and asking their mom about stuff, but I guess it would be nice to record them in some place for future generations. Also, it would be nice to know what customs different people from different regions follow. What do you think? Lemme know!

Okay then!! Tata!

XOXO!

Sad News

Well, during all these happenings, an unfortunate incident happened which literally broke my heart, as I suffered a great loss - my dearest Ammamma (maternal grandmother) passed away on Thursday, 14th of October, early morning, at 12:45am. We lost her to the deadly disease of cancer. She was always there for me since I was born and each moment I spent with her, I treasure fondly. I was hoping she would be alive to attend my wedding, as it is only a month away. But God thought otherwise, and decided to hurt all of us. I simply cannot accept the fact that she is no more as I always believed she will always be there, a witness to every important event in my life. If there was anyone with abundant compassion to every being, it is she. She never even harmed an ant; she would gently guide the ant along a different path, not wanting to kill it. And she was always smiling. I have never ever seen her get angry with anyone - not even her daughters (my mom and my three aunts). She was a strong, brave woman who always encouraged being independent and standing on one' own legs come what may and she was one of the most broadminded individuals of her time, who saw reason in everything and stuck to a practical way of living rather than a life submerged in unreasonable religious beliefs and superstitions. Every time I have stayed with her or she has visited me, she would always make my favorite kozhakattais and elai adais (a dish made with jackfruit poornam). I will always miss her, and no amount of years of her existence would be enough for us.
Ammamma, may your soul rest in peace. We will always miss you. I love you very much, and I wish you were still with us, guiding us and teaching us a lot of important things in life. I wish you had waited just for one more month. :( But atleast you saw all my wedding sarees. But you shouldn't have said that it was almost like seeing the entire wedding after seeing my sarees. :( You should have waited to see the actual event. :(

I love you Ammamma, and you will always be in my heart.
Sweet Kisses to You (Like how you always wrote in letters to us and also said to us over the phone.)

Exciting Events Ahead!

Its been really long, I know!! My apologies!
Well, a lot has happened since I last blogged. I shall try to squeeze in everything that has happened till now in as few words as I can!


First, I finally graduated with my Master's degree from ASU, after three long years of thesis work! I graduated sometime around May! And then I shifted to the California Bay Area for better prospects at job searching. And then, somewhere along the way, I decided to take a break and get back to India for about 3.5 months to resume my dance career, and am I so glad I did that!

I left the US on July 31st and on my way back home to Chennai, I stopped over at Dubai for a few days and spent three days there with my parents, who flew in from Doha. It was soooo nice to be back in Dubai after 13 years!! And I should say, it was amazing!!! I went to the Burj Al Khalifa tour (the tallest building in the world) and went on the monorail to kind of have a somewhat aerial view of Atlantis at Dubai, and the new malls etc etc.

I arrived at Chennai on August 5th, and since then have been busy with shopping and stuff. And also going back to my dance classes. And also losing all those extra extra pounds I put on these past three years, in the process!

And oh yes, I am also giving a couple of dance performances. One on October 26th and the other on November 8th. I would love it if you all could make it to my programs.
Here are the deets:
Date: October 26th, 2010, Tuesday
Time: 7:30pm to 9:00pm
Venue: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore, Chennai
Sabha: Gana Mukhunda Priya

Date: November 8th, 2010, Monday
Time: 6:00pm to 7:30pm
Venue: Narada Gana Sabha Mini Hall, Alwarpet, Chennai
Sabha: Kartik Fine Arts

Please do come!!!

And yes, finally, I am getting married! Yes, me! :) Unbelieveable eh?!
Ok, so I am getting married in November! And here are the deets for that:
November 17th, 2010 Wednesday: Nishchayathartham and Reception (Evening)
November 18th, 2010 Thursday: Muhurtham (10:30am to 12:00pm)

Please do consider this as a personal invitation. I shall post a scanned copy of my invitation soon. So please note these events in your calendar and try your best to make it to as many as you can!!!

Okay then,
Gotta go!!

XOXO!

Another Heads Up

Phew! That was all of my drafts that were worth publishing! Most of the other stuff were really outdated and some links and videos were not even working! Now, I guess I can synch my real-life and the blog! ;)

Heads Up

Okay, I'm going to be publishing all the drafts (whatever makes sense now, that is) in the next hour, so don't be surprised if you see a huge array of posts! :)

I'm a graduate!

Hello guys!

I am back! And I am here to stay... I think! ;)

I would like to share my good news with you guys. I have finally completed my master's degree - MS in Computer Science from Arizona State University. Woohoo!!!

I defended my thesis on Friday April 23rd, 2010. It went on pretty well, I guess. I was pretty nervous in the beginning, but later on, calmed down. And once it was over, I couldn't believe it! Three whole years!!! I don't think I am going to go to school anymore. At least not in the next 5 or 6 years!
I'm done! Imagine, continuous studying from nursery, prep 1, prep 2, from 1st to 12th grades, 4 years of Undergraduate College, and now 3 years of Grad School. Phew! 22 years of continuous studies! OMG! And I'm 25. (Ugh, I'm old!)

I still have a lot more stuff to do. So much paperwork and stuff. Its so exhausting!

So now, the next step, getting a job! Now lets see how that goes! Hope I get a job soon!

XOXO,

Purple Poise

Quick Updates!

Its been quite a long time, and I thought I'd just post a quick update.

I'm done with my thesis document (I think) and I am finally defending on Friday, April 23rd! Can't wait for it to be over with! Finally, I would graduate with my master's degree, after three whole years! Phew! I wondered if that day would ever come, but now, its soon approaching!

Another big thing is, I just got a Nokia N900!!!! Woot! And I simply love it! Well, most of you would be wondering what is an Apple fan like me doing with a phone that is not an iPhone, well, I have an iPod Touch that I got free with my Macbook last year, so I'm kind of bored with it! :) And I was a Nokia devotee before I even saw a Mac interface! =D So Nokia wins hands down for me! And with N900's multitasking and root access.... Aaah.. Root is the limit! Hehe! I simply love using the Terminal on my mobile! =D


Maybe after I graduate, I'd take to more serious mature writing than these kiddish (more girlish!) rants! What do you say?!!!

Ok, now back to preparing for my defense!

XOXO!

Happy Birthday Blog!

OMG! I completely forgot about it!!! I knew the 1st anniversary of the blog was sometime soon, and I just realized, it went past by... On March 5th!!!

Well, better late than never!! Hehe!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOGGY!!!

Thank you everybody, for reading my blog and tolerating it, perhaps! :)

Hopefully, I can churn out more posts soon... Once I'm done with my thesis stuff... Uh.. Cant wait to get that done!

XOXO,

Purple Poise

P.S. I just noticed that the Calvin and Hobbes comic strips disappeared!!! Well, they were fun while they lasted!

Happy New Year!

Wish you all a wonderful 2010, filled with lots of purple magic and poise and the best of everything!!!!!! Including the best of blogposts!!!!!! :)
Checkout the world's best firework display, as a wonderful start to a wonderful new year!!!!!




Love you all!!!! Happy New Year!!!!

XOXO,

Purple Poise

Merry Chrismas! (Gift Included)

Hey Everybody,

Wish all of you a Merry Christmas! Hope you guys have lots of good fun and lots of goodies to share! Its a wonderful season, with trees all decorated and lights everywhere! Kind of reminds me of our own Diwali! Another thing I sort of noticed it, the ornaments to be hung on the Christmas tree are also themed nowadays, similar to our Kollu, during Navarathri! Its really nice to see what ornaments are on the trees, and the ones in the malls... Man, HUGE trees!

I wonder what Santa brought me today! :)

Oh by the way, I'm no longer going to be posting the Tweet Tweets anymore... I'm sure its a big relief to you guys! Well, you can keep that as my Christmas gift to you! Hehe!! Okay, I know. Lame... Well, anyway...

Here's my real Christmas gift to you all. A personal invitation to join The Gilt Groupe, which is an exclusive group that offers coveted fashion and luxury brands at big discounts, upto 70% off! Isnt that amazing?! Remember, it is an invitation only group. So here is my invitation. Every day there is a new set of sales, and each sale lasts for 36 hours. So hurry and get your big brands at big discount prices!

Oh, I almost forgot! I've started a new category named "Poised Goodies" under which I shall post about great deals, offers, or anything that sounds "KA-CHING"! So stay tuned for these posts, and you should find yourself some great stuff, like the invite above. Now get going with your celebrations!



Merry Christmas to ya'all!


Ho Ho Ho,

Purple Poise

My Music Experimentations

Apple iLife's GarageBand is quite an impressive application for making music. While it may not be as wholesome as the applications used by big time music directors, it is surely something for newbies like me. I haven't really played much with it, but have tried to create a couple music pieces, if you may call them that. Dont expect something awesome. I'm just posting it here to share it with you guys! :)

How I created them: There is section in the application that allows you to record and mix different sounds; which can either be the ones already available in the application library or some piece you may plug and play with the application, or simulate on the application (like playing a virtual keyboard on the application). What I did was just use the different sounds available in the application library, and mix them. :) Voila!

Listen and well, laugh? enjoy? shut your ears? do anything! Before you listen, dont forget to read the fine print below! ;) And please do leave comments/critics/rebukes etc. :)

Check out this application whenever you can, and make your own music! Am sure you'll come out with stuff better than me!


My first creation: Maiden Piece



Despair, Fear and Freedom (I dont know why I named it that way! Please suggest some names!)

XOXO,

Purple Poise 

Warning: I am not responsible for any damage to your ears or any other part of your body! 

Back with some Sweets!

Okay... I know its been a really long time, again, since I last said "I'll be back!". So here I am, back with some stuff to show you guys. I promised to post pictures of the Diwali Sweets and Snacks etc. that my mom made while she was here with me. Well, here they are now, atleast in time for Christmas!! Haha!! :)

Take a look!

Peda

Gulab Jamun

Ras Malai

Badushah

Ashoka Halwa

Okay then!!!

Happy oggling at the snaps!!! And I'm going to be posting more stuff in sometime... Not pics though! ;)

XOXO,

Purple Poise

I'm back again!

Helloooooo...
Well, seems like no one's reading my blog anymore! Haha!! Well, I'm back again, back with a bang!

I was dumped with sooooo much work, I hardly had time to even remember it existed. Until now!

I'll update you guys with what has been happening with me...

My mom was here with me, for three months. My dad came here for a month, while my mom was here. Now both my parents are back at Doha.

I've been struggling with my thesis work, and my paid work, and some voluntary work as well. Incidentally, all three involve working with Ruby on Rails! Well, it was a bit stressful at times, but its also fun working with Rails! :)

Very soon, I'm going to post the following:
1. Pictures of the wonderful sweets and snacks my mom made for the festivals she celebrated with me here.
2. Some funny audios I created with my Macbook's GarageBand.
3. A post promoting my thesis work! (I need you guys to play around with a sensational(!) facebook application revolving around sustainability, so that I can do some kind of research work on the user activity and get done with my thesis work)
4. A LOT of interesting info I've been stepping upon in the World Wide Web.
5. A lot of stuff about what I've been doing.
6. And, a lot of ramblings! :)

Stay Tuned...

XOXO,

Purple Poise

President Obama wishes Happy Diwali

Hello All,

I wish each one of you and your family a very very happy and colorful Diwali! Well, I may be a bit late in wishing, but I sure hope you had great fun, sweets, snacks, poojas etc...

I was busy celebrating mine by devouring the lip smacking sweets my mom made! :) I'll be posting pictures soon! Hehehe!

In the meantime, I thought I'll post a video here, of Prez. Obama's Diwali wishes. Have fun watching!



Click here to watch this video on Youtube.

XOXO,

Purple Poise

Another Break!

Aaaarrrggghhh.. These past few weeks have been so stressful! :( I cant remember the last time I had a good laugh or slept peacefully, without having to think what I need to complete the next day.

I just finished completing a major piece of work, and now, I'm feeling soooo relaxed... :) Wish it could last! So while taking this break, I thought, why not publish some of my drafts. But then, when I looked at the list of the drafts, the blogger interface looked more like another big chunk of work to be completed, and I rejected that idea. :)

Anyway, this post is just to let you guys know that I havent forgotten my blog!! Hehehe!!! And that, very soon... very soon, I should be able to post my drafts and a few other posts that are drafted in my brain! Hehe!!

Keep coming back! :)

XOXO,

Purple Poise

Quick Break

Hey Guys,

Sorry to keep you waiting for the recipes for a long time. I've been really busy with stuff. :(

Hardly found time to post entries! But that doesnt mean I have forgotten about my blog! Hopefully this weekend, I should have sometime. :)

And guess what? My dad's here too now!! Having lots of fun with Mom and Dad!! Yay! :)

Stay Tuned,

XOXO,

Purple Poise

My First Interview Ever

For some of them who don't know much about me, there is a Bharatnatyam dancer within me. But now, while doing my masters, that part of me is not too active. :(

But thanks to a wonderful person, Sangeetha Akka, I am able to contribute at least something to the dance field! In the form of articles!

Hmmm.. Maybe sometime soon I'll interview her and post it up here! :)

Sangeetha Akka manages a blog "Bharathanatyam and the Worldwide Web"; the blog name says it all. I'll save the grand intro about her for the interview! :) [Note to Sangeetha Akka: Ok. Now you've been warned!!! Hehehe!!]

She has been a big encouragement for me for being able to contribute to dance by allowing me to contribute to her blog. Thanks Akka!

So, she gave me my first interview assignment: To interview the young and inspiring dancer, Navia Natarajan. She asked me to submit the interview article to Carnatic Darbar, and they published it! Yay! And today, she would be publishing the unabridged entry on her blog! :)

Take a look at the article on Carnatic Darbar. And take a look at the unabridged version on Akka's blog.

Let me know what you think of it. :)

XOXO,

Excited 'n' Elated

Ice Breaker - Busy Times

Hello Everybody!

Its been a long time, I know. I have sooooo much to tell you guys!

Firstly, I apologize for not being able to update my blog as often as I wished I could.

I was quite held up with my work and thesis work as well. And to top it off, LoudTwitter, the service that used to ship my tweets to my blog, had problems with their server. So you couldn't really keep track of whats happening with me!

Here are the updates in a bulleted list. I guess its a pretty neat way to keep track of it. I'll try to provide time-lines as much as I can.

• July 31st: I moved to a new place! Its a one bedroom apartment. Its just me and my mom! :)
• August 9th: My birthday. Well, nothing great about it actually. It was literally just like any other day! Work work work. :(
• August 12th: My mom landed in Phoenix. :) Well, there's a loooong story behind it. She was supposed to arrive here at noon, but then because of flight cancellations and delays, she ended up coming here close to midnight!

Well, those are the only big highlights I could think of!! Heh heh! But I have a few other things to share as well, which I believe would be best if I put up as separate posts!

XOXO,

Purple Poise

Been a Long Time!

I know, its been a really really really long time! Well, I was pretty busy with work and stuff!!!

I made Twitter updates as much as I could, but unfortunately, LoudTwitter had some server issues, so they couldn't ship the tweets to my blog! :(

Anyway, I'm here now, to catch up with whats happening!

A lot of things are happening, actually. I got a new iPod Touch, yeah, I already wrote about it! Then I went to Madison for an interview with Epic Systems, and they had something fishy going. Ha ha!

And I've been working on a lot of interesting projects, and that is the reason I've not been able to blog for a long time. But generally browsing, I found a lot of links that might definitely be interesting. I'll post those links eventually! I'll try to post some today. And I've also drafted a few recipes, that I should post very soon, hopefully! ;)

I have some great news to share! My mom is coming to the US to stay with me for awhile! Woo Hoo!! My dad might come sometime too, but depends on how many days he can get away from work. I've asked her to get a load of goodies for me from India!!! :) Cant wait to see what she's getting! She's coming next month, and would be here for about 3 months! Yay!

Hey, know what? Today's my star birthday! :) Nakshatra Purandanaal! (Adi Krithika/Karthigai)
Well, but there's some confusion about it as well! The star Krithika, this year, is on two days during the month of Aadi - June 17th, which is today and August 14th! So I guess I'm the lucky one who has 2 star birthdays! Yippee, so I get in total 3 birthday! He He!! I didn't get to do anything special today anyway! :( Just work work work!

OK then, I should be back very soon with more posts!

XOXO,

Purple Poise

My first iPod; and its an iPod Touch!

Guess what? I got a new iPod Touch! I know, its awesome! :) Yay me! Wanna know how?

Well, its kind of a long story. Earlier, the Macbook I bought, I actually bought it with another good friend of mine; that time we were sharing the laptop, and I was primarily using the Macbook given to me in one of my workplaces, the New Media Innovation Lab at ASU. But then, I had to return that Macbook because they were upgrading all the laptops before checking them out to students. So sometime in May, I decided to buy another Macbook and keep it for myself, so my friend could keep the other Macbook. So, yay! I had a new Macbook, again! That was on May 13th.

Then, after about two weeks, I got a mail with an offer: Buy a Macbook for college and get an iPod Touch free. (You might want to check out that offer. Pretty good! Its valid till September 8, 2009.) And I had just bought that new Macbook 2 weeks earlier. How mean of Apple to have this offer after I buy the Macbook! X( I wanted to make use of this offer, and was thinking of ways to do it, and so I called up the Apple store, and asked them what I could do to make use of the offer, and they asked me to come to the store.

So I went to the store, praying all along the way, that somehow they should work out something to help me get the iPod Touch. Fortunately for me, God decided to answer my prayers, and the representative there worked up some magic*, and lo! I had my first iPod in my hands! My first ever actual MP3 player, and it was the latest iPod Touch! Woo Hoo!!! Of course, it was the 8 GB one, but who cares! It was free**!

Its been about 3 weeks since I have it, but I haven't been able to load much into it, except download a few apps and games, and about 1/1000000 th of my favorite songs! I hope I find some time to upload more songs...

Keep Reading,

XOXO,

Excited 'n' Exhausted

* The representative logged it in as though the Macbook was returned and bought again on the day of the offer. Luckily I was just a day from the return deadline. I got real lucky there!
** It was a rebate. I had to pay an extra 300 something, and I would get back $ 229 back, but it would be mailed out to me as check. And the rest of the amount goes as tax and stuff. X( But on the bright side, I get 229 back! :)