26th Jan - Republic Day

Happy Republic day to my fellow Indians. Every year , no matter what the circumstances are, our country celebrates Republic day with opulence. Watching the Republic Day parade held in New Delhi is a part of everyones childhood memories. What is the significance of this grand celebration is a question we rarely ask ourselves. Once asked, everyone is ready with the answer that the Indian Constitution was formed that day on 26th January 1950.

While Independence Day celebrates the freedom from British Rule, the Republic Day celebrates the coming into force of its constitution

Republic Day Parade New Delhi 2012

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It is on these two days of the year everyone in India suddenly become patriotic. Be it a polictician, a chief guest at any of the flag hoistings around the country, or anyone who is given the mike to speak on these two days. A principal of a college talks about unity in diversity, says that we all are of different castes but we all are one big family. The very next day he shows his favortisim to the teachers and students of his caste and his dislike towards the others. Someone says "Corruption!!" this is the reason we haven't developed as much as China! Yes sir, it is true what you say. The very next day of work, the same person thinks what profit can he make by cheating a bit, by doing something illegal because someone will bribe him. He thinks nobody would know of all his corrupt life style. Everyone knows sir ji, everyone does. 

Let this be a message to everyone, the patriotic speech which is spoken by you, should be followed for atleast a day. Follow what you preach! Words have done no good to the benefit of the country. Be an example of honesty and not of someone who takes a little bribe. The typical mentality of pointing fingers at others, look he is more corrupt than me, isn't going to get us anywhere.

Master Cleanse Lemonade Diet

Day 1 and Day 2 

I enjoyed the Master cleanse journey till here. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the lemonade diet too. The lemonade is very tasty and I really don't mind drinking it all day. I had more than enough energy to sustain the whole day! The routine is to take a nightly herbal laxative everyday from the time we start the lemonade diet. I chose a good one available at my regular store. The day ended after playing some PS3 games, Sports Champions Archery game to be specific, which me and Harish totally enjoy. Maybe I should write about all the games too sometime.

Anyways, I slept around midnight only to be awakened before sunrise with some movement in my tummy. These were followed by 3 more visits to the bathroom and I was totally exhausted. I woke up my hubby as I no more had any stamina left, weakness was empowering me. I requested him to get me some sugar and coffee as I could barely open my eyes. He got me sugar quickly and fed some to me and rushed to brew me some hot coffee. This moment reminded me of my parents who took so much care of me whenever any such thing happened. It's a bit different with your hubby, sure he cares but not as much as my parents did. I drank a few sips of the hot coffee and added loads of sugar to it. I was dehydrated and the sugar level in my body had hit a complete low. Drank a few sips of water (as much as I could) through out this toxic phase.

I did loose weight I'm sure! My jeans which were not fitting me are back to my waist. I'm happy about that. But, Is it safe to do this Detox diet and make myself so weak that I become unconscious, it doesn't seem like a good idea to me!

After all this my hubby insisted I have a healthy breakfast before he goes to work, cause he was worried I'd faint again. I did some more research n this if it's safe enough to do it and it was no surprise that some doctors have suggested that people who are anemic ,who have low BP or any other medical conditions should not try this diet. Doctors also say that the body does not get enough of nutrients and energy through this diet, as 6 cups of lemonade gives us only 650 calories. which is way below the daily requirements. I'd a totally dairy cutout as well for the past 5 days. Phew! what about the calcium then?

Well, I'm sorry to say that this detox diet is not for me. I love being on salads, fruits and soups, loved the lemonade too, but the dehydration! I can't bear that! I had fruits and veggies the rest of the day to keep me going will start with soups tomorrow and end this anorexic diet!

Day 3- Ease-in of Master Cleanse

Day three is going good so far. Had 3 cups of orange juice and its 3.45pm. The problem is not with the diet. But the problem is my hubby says I will have to look for a job as a QA and not a BA. I do have some idea about QA but I'm no expert. I'm studying QTP today and also looking for someone who could teach me the same well. I want to do some projects and become an expert in this. Hmm..

We are going to India on 11th feb, I'm so excited about that!!! Will I get to learn some QTP there?? I doubt! It's a holiday and lets treat it like that. My aunt has a very good trainer in Boston, she also knows someone in Connecticut, so I'm exploring my options. I sooo want to get a job soon and get busy with life how I used to be.

So its Day 3 and I'm going strong. Have found this amazing website to sharpen your QA skills. Its good if you are a totally new-bee specially. http://www.guru99.com Have fun studying and loosing weight!! Yay!

Day 2 of Master Cleanse Diet!

Today was my day 2 of my master cleanse. Suprisingly I'm not even a bit tired! I also had some delicious soup today apart from the yummy juices.I already feel lighter today and so fresh. This is a sure way to lose weight!

It is my day 2 of Ease-in stage. So my diet was of soups and juices. I drank a cup of carrot juice in the morning followed by green tea, this was our breakfast. Then a childhood friend of mine,Shweta suggested me to add an apple with the carrots into the blender. Now this was a super yummy carrot-apple juice. My hubby was on lemonade diet today itself. By afternoon he seemed to be too hungry. He is a guy with a huge appetite. Poor guy I just couldn't help but tell him to drink the carrot-apple juice with me, and so he did.

For lunch I looked up the internet for a spinach soup and I found one amazing one at allrecipies.com. It had all the right ingredients, which were healthy and I had them, it was also easy to make. Trust me it was delicious. Here is the link for the recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/jamaican-spinach-soup/detail.aspx

I do like a chunky soup so I kept a few of the vegetables aside and didn't let them go through the blender. Also I didn't add any zaccuni but I added some sweet corn. My and my hubby had two bowls full of them, as we knew we'd a long day ahead of us.

We left to Manhattan to see Harish's newly born nephew and family. Two of his cousin sisters have had babies in the last couple of months, so they both were there. along with their mom who was visiting them .Had fun with all the babies and their young parents. We had to pick up his aunt and take her to yet another cousins house who lives in Newport, Jersey City. Well, long day I must say, cause we had to go back to Manhattan drop her and come back to our place! Phew... 

Me,Uma Aunty,Harshu Akka(Harish's cousin), Dev(her son) and Puneet(her hubby)

But here we are, all done for the day, we ended the day with sharing a pomogranate and I was too tempted to eat a stick of celery. Yes tempted!!! tooo much!! :)

Tommorow is my day of Orange Juice!! yay!! Can't wait for it!! But there is a slight problem, Harish's cousin who lives in Manhattan has invited us over for lunch on sunday! She'd invited us today also, we somehow escaped, but how do we cook up another reason for next week to keep up our diet. I seriously do not want to break the diet cause I doubt I'll get another chance at this soon. Hmmm.. Have to try some tricks, I'm a bit shy about telling them about this diet, or should- I ?

Master Cleanse has begun!!!

I've begun the Master cleanse today. Since I've come to U.S I think I've put on about 6 or 7 kgs (or maybe even 8) in a couple of months!! Scary right?? For the past few weeks I did some intensive research about Master Cleanse and I decided to take the plunge. My hubby plans to stay on a fruit,vegetables and the lemonade diet. Pretty sweet of him to support me in the master cleanse diet.

For those of you'll who are wondering what exactly is this master cleanse, let me put it out in words to you. Master cleanse is one of the famous Detox diets, which helps in removing all the toxins and unwanted waste from the body. Thousands of people claim that it works and is the most natural way to loose weight. If you think you put on a lot of weight this year, feel a bit bloated and you think you've eaten a lot of junk!! Then this is definetely for you. Go ahead do your research. Let me share my experience with you.

There are three stages in Master Cleanse.

•  Ease-in - 3 Days.
• The Lemonade Diet - 10 Days
• Ease out - 3 Days

I've skipped dinner last night. Ate a few grapes ans strawberries.We watched My name is Khan as Harish hadn't seen it yet.

It was snowing in the morning and my excited hubby kept waking me up as he wanted to go and play in the snow. Woke up in the morning, prepared breakfast for hubby ,toasted brown breads and egg whites fried. I'd half a melon for breakfast. Off we went to play in the snow!! Had awesome fun.. seeing the white winter wonderland. We threw a few snowballs at each other and walked for a few minutes. I just felt like I was freezing, so I came rushing back.

Our saturday ritual is to talk to our parents through skype video chat. So, spoke to Harish's family, Mom, Supriya, Anna and Bhabhi. I must say his Bhabhi has lost 15-20 kgs this year. She was plumpy when I first met her and now she looks like a thin teenager!! Awesomeness!! She is like an inspiration for me to loose weight. Anyways, spoke to my parents after that. Watched them eat dinner though we both are starving. I just peeled a few cucumbers which we both shared. Having fun on this diet now. Harish ate the other half of the melon for lunch. Love my hubby for giving me freedom from cooking for 2 weeks.

We were supposed to have Harish's cousin Harshu akka  and her family to come over for lunch tomorrow. But because it snowed today thats also cancelled. Sad!! :(

For more info about Master Cleanse:
http://themastercleanse.org/

Nuggikeri Temple - Dharwad

I still remember all my engineering days when all of us used to go to Nuggikeri Temple,that was a routine every saturday. For almost two years me and my group of ten girls would walk down from our college SDM CET to Nuggikerre. Some of us went barefoot and some of us fasted the whole day and ate only after coming back from the temple.I often did both.Sometimes i went there on an activa with my brother.Nobody misses on going to Nuggikeri.Nobody! Going there was only the second best part.It's a very calm and serene walk,but not more than the location of the temple itself.Very very gorgeous and serene. A temple on the banks of a lake,surrounded my miles of green landscape.You know to be there and be able to visit Nuggikerre every saturday itself is kind of a blessing.You just know you belong there!! I'm sure the other hundreds of people who came there every saturday felt the same.

When the exams were nearing I'd pray that the exams go well,after the exam I'd pray that we pass in this particular paper which was so tough!! When there were tough times I even cried praying there. I prayed for courage and strength to bare it all. The rest of the times I just went there and said hello to Hanuman and thank him for the life he has given me. There's a custom of tying saffron and yellow holy threads to the railing on the wall behind Hanuman.I used to  make a wish and tie a knot,like a bow so i knew it was mine.Since I'm from Bombay and not Dharwad, it was my dream to take my husband once to Nuggikerre after I got married. I wanted him to know this place which was a very important part of my life and also i wanted to show him to my favourite Nuggikeri Hanuman.I doubted my wish could come true as i later found out my husband to be works in Singapore and we probably won't have much time to visit Dharwad,let alone Nuggikeri.

Hanuman called me and my husband there to come meet him.A week after my marriage we'd to go to mangalore for all the pujas we'd to attend.My husband had booked Air India tickets about two months back.As fate had it Air India was on strike and was cancelling all the flights. I remember we went to every Bus Travel office, noone had two tickets to mangalore,of course there was no question of getting train tickets!! Peak season!! We'd no other way but to drive to mangalore from bombay,my parents were a bit worried about just us making such a long trip and they accompanied us. Dharwad happened to be on the way to mangalore!!! I was just praying for it!!! Destiny!! As i stood there in front of Nuggikeri Hanuman, it was surreal. I couldn't thank god for all that he has given me, a lovely husband too. I prayed for our married life to be happy and happiness to my family. I'll always love Nuggikeri Hanuman from the bottom of my heart.

IPL Mania

The IPL mania has begun and it won't get over for another month.Half the Indian population or should i say more than half the Indian population,considering the sex ratio of male to female in India,are glued to IPL and very few other things seem to be making a difference nowadays.Guys greet each other with "did u see d match yesterday?", or "What an awesome match it was!!" instead of the normal and more caring hi how are you :)A student of mine greeted me the other day with "Mam I watched the match in the stadium yesterday!!" Whatever happened to the Good morning mam.I'm sure you all can think of your own experiences regarding this. Which team are you going to be supporting this year??!! Have a great season!