Monday, January 28, 2013

Coldest winter in California

2012-2013: Well, California is experiencing a winter like never before. One of the coldest winters. BRRRR!

It's great to halt at Starbucks for a hot chocolate with whipped cream or have hot samosa chaat or pakoras at an Indian restaurant.
I personally have always loved winter fashion...The long boots, colorful sweaters & coats just add life to the bizarre cold gloomy days. Luckily, unlike Seattle, we don't have many gloomy days.  Unlike Chicago & Boston, we don't have chilling winds that cut through the bones. Neither do we have snow storms.

Now that I think about it, no matter how cold it gets, life in California is always fun in every season . No wonder we all pay a premium to live here. 

Monday, July 25, 2011

San Francisco Weather

Quoting Mark Twain - "The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco."

So true till date. This city never ceases to amaze me. The unpredictable weather calls for a jacket in hand - ALWAYS! The fog hides SF's spectacular buildings plus my favorite Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge giving them a new shape and form. The sun plays hide and seek through the fog thus enhancing the silhouette of the amazing landscape. Every thing in SF has an exquisitely different feel on a daily basis. Simply marvelous to experience one of the greatest cities in the world - San Francisco.

Happy Reading!!!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Energy - Is positivity surrounding you today?

Places, surroundings, people & situations trigger different sort of energies - knowingly or unknowingly.

A beautiful California sunny day, some good music, healthy & interesting conversations, Indian food, natural beauty, sound of fountains & nice ambience are just few of the things that ignite positive energy in me. Today is one such beautiful day & it's Dhanteras- An auspicious day per Hindu Calendar that falls a couple of days before the greatest Indian Festival- Diwali.

I believe one must always try to be surrounded with good energies. It sometimes needs an additional effort but its totally worth it. Think about it!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Is it Spring?

18th April, 2010.

Unpredictable weather - wintery chills at nights, cloudy skies pouring rain on and off, not many flowers blossomed yet - Is it Spring? Doesn't feel so...

California hasn't witnessed spring in its entirety yet. I miss the mild fragrance of flowers while walking on the streets, the beauty of morning due drops on petals & trees full of lovely fresh green leaves.

Afterall, Spring is in the air -Just hoping to witness it in its full boom soon.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

California weather & our economy

In California-The grass is getting greener, the flowers are blooming and the sky is looking brighter. The improving weather condition is like my hope for U.S economy revival.

With each passing day, I try to feel more optimistic and pray for sunshine, for revival, for happiness across millions of homes who are adversely affected right now. I do believe that there is dawn after dusk...It's just that the rays have not yet reached!

Nevertheless, Keep the Faith!!!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Academia.edu - Social Networking Website for Academics

Dear Readers,

Academia.edu is scaling new heights of success as the social networking website for Academics. It is a useful medium for imparting as well as gaining knowledge about various academic fields.

The website www.academia.edu does two things:
- It shows academics around the world structured in a 'tree' format, displayed according to their departmental and institutional affiliations.
- It enables academics to see news on the latest research in their area - the latest people, papers and talks.

Dr. Richard Price who has a Ph.D on the philosophy of perception from Oxford launched this website with a team of people from Stanford and Cambridge hoping that Academia.edu will eventually list every academic in the world -- Faculty members, Post-Docs, and Graduate Students. Academics can add their departments, and themselves, to the tree by clicking on the boxes.

Academics are joining the tree rapidly. More than 15,000 academics have added themselves in the last two months. Some professors on the site include: -
- Richard Dawkins - http://oxford.academia.edu/RichardDawkins
- Stephen Hawking - http://cambridge.academia.edu/StephenHawking
- Paul Krugman - http://princeton.academia.edu/PaulKrugman
- Noam Chomsky - http://mit.academia.edu/NoamChomsky
- Steven Pinker - http://harvard.academia.edu/StevenPinker

Academia just launched a new feature that enables you to post a snapshot of your Academia.edu webpage to your Facebook profile. It's awesome!

You can also post other content from your Academia.edu webpage to your Facebook profile. At the moment you can post these pieces of content: - Papers- Books- Talks- Teaching documents. To post these documents to Facebook, go to your papers/books/talks page etc, and click on the ‘Post to my Facebook profile’ link next to each document.

It would be terrific if you could visit the website and help academics hear about the site by mentioning Academia.edu to your friends and colleagues.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Life made easier...

Dear Friends,
I am sure that you will enjoy reading my article on 'Relaxation'and trying out TIPS for making life easier and happier. Please visit this link and do write back.
http://pritikayoga.blogspot.com

I'd love to know how you felt after practising 'Vairagya Bhav'. Trust me, it works!!!
Happy Reading!!!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Yoga - Introduction

My 2nd blog is about Yoga, Meditation and Stress Management as I am a certified Yoga Teacher. The idea appealed to me. Please click on the link below to read interesting articles, view videos, learn Yogasanas. Yoga, Meditation, Pranayam, Stress Management, Relaxation Techniques, Concentration Improvement are the topics that will be discussed. http://pritikayoga.blogspot.com/ . Go ahead and click on the "followers" link on this blog to be informed about all articles on Yoga.

Many people are under the misconception that Yoga is just another form of workout. It's way beyond our physical being.

What is Yoga?

Yoga is a way of life, an integrated system of education for body, mind and inner spirit. The word "Yoga" originates from the Sanskrit word "YUJ" which means "to join" or "come together" or "unite". Yoga is union of body, mind and soul.

The philosophy of Yoga was written 2000-3000 years ago. It was saint Patanjali who systematized Yoga and is known as the Grammarian of Yoga.

Yoga has been taught in India since thousands of years and still holds a strong position after many scientific discoveries and competes with the most modern scientific knowledge. Yoga deals with the universal truth; it is a practical aid. Everybody must practice Yoga techniques and reap the benefits of life in it's true sense.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Be an Optimist!

Are you acquainted with yourself? Who are you? Just another ordinary human being who has been living life curbing your thoughts and wishes? Or perhaps, someone who feels that learning is meant only for kids?

It is sad but true, most people find it embarrassing to express their desire to learn, their quest for being at par with the contemporary genre of people around them. Look at yourself and analyze as to where have you reached in life and where do you wish to be.

Feeling feeble is a big drawback because it makes you believe that you do not have the ability or the capability to achieve what u dreamed of or always desired. No one can make you feel weak unless you yourself are a pessimist. Get rid of this burden – negativity, inferiority complex, lack of self-image or confidence.
Keep the faith! Be an Optimist!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Astrologically Speaking!

Astrology-What is Astrology? According to the definition in the Oxford dictionary, Astrology is an art of observing the position of the stars in the belief that they influence human affairs.

Astrologically speaking, who will win the Presidential elections this year in America? Will it be the fabulous orator Barack Obama or the experienced John McCain? Will ideology, power to communicate effectively, dynamic personality be the reason for victory or the stars under which he was born?

Astrologically speaking, Friday the 13th, doom’s day, May 8 2000, end of the world and there have been many similar predictions in the past. Dates have come and gone but the events have not occurred, thankfully. I am saying this without any offense to great astrologers like Mr. Bejan Daruwala, Linda Goodman, etc.

Actually it is incorrect to believe that astrology is accepted by fools or those people who lack a scientific temperament, or are superstitious. There are many great thinkers and scientists who have gone on record for having a firm belief in Astrology. I would like to cite an example: - Scientists- people related to scientific work are assumed to be very practical who prove things to believe in them. Dr. Venkatawardhan, a great scientist, the former director of Nehru Planetarium (Mumbai, India) would go home, take a bath and perform some rituals whenever there was an eclipse because the eclipse is seen as an adverse confluence of stars and not merely as a scientific movement of stars. So even if one claims to be very logical, practical and rational, he consciously or sub-consciously believes in Astrology.

Our belief in Astrology can be broadly divided into 2 types:-

1- harmless belief

2- harmful belief

When a person goes to an astrologer for a point of reference, gains hope and strength from the astrologer’s words, feels at peace mentally, then to such an extent it is fine. Here if everything works well, the astrologer becomes your savior, your knight in shining armor.

But when a person shirks all his responsibilities, doesn’t make a single move in life without taking an advice from his astrologer, he becomes a slave of Astrology-which is very harmful to the individual and people who are in close contact with him. Such individuals lose their ability to think or take a rational decision. Here if something goes wrong, the astrologer become your scapegoat and is blamed for the consequences.

My friend did nothing else except playing Poker at Las Vegas for 3 whole days because his astrologer had predicted that soon his stars will favor him and he will win thousands of dollars. Unfortunately he lost all his money. Ridiculous, isn’t it? This makes me believe in the adage, “Man's needs can be met, greed - never.”

Effort, enterprise, leadership, dedication and hard work is what you need to be someone like Bill Gates, Donald Trump or Larry Page and not luck or favorable stars alone.

Astrologer becomes an alternative therapist in your hard times, but only an alternative, if he becomes your sole therapist, then there’s a problem.

Man is a credulous animal and must believe in something, in the absence of good grounds for belief, he believes in the bad ones. Are you one of those?

THINK ABOUT IT !!!!!!!!