Video!

Well, as most of you have been following along and as some of you have become more intrigued about India, I thought it would be a good idea to make a short little video showing some pictures of India along with my own personal narration. So, what are you waiting for! Check out the video by clicking here!

An Indian Thanksgiving

Since coming to India, I've become overloaded with the numerous Indian festivals that are celebrated with unrelenting zeal. However, I have come to miss many of the American holidays that I have became so used to. Thanksgiving, of course, is one the bigger holidays that is not celebrated here in India, and pretty much the rest of the world for that matter. Still, being the Indian-American that I am, I had set out on a venture to find myself a nice Turkey dinner to have and enjoy for Thanksgiving day. It did not take me long to find a nice restaurant that low and behold, serves a nice turkey dinner during the holidays. I guess I was not alone on this quest. Having found my dinner, I quickly placed a take away order and then grabbed my dinner and headed home. Once home, I took out the wonderfully smelling turkey and set up my dinner. Being a huge NFL fan, I had downloaded the last Monday Night Football game onto my computer and had burnt it to a DVD. My dinner was now all set. As I ate my turkey dinner and watched the Titans win its way to victory, I felt very satisfied with my little Thanksgiving dinner......a half a world away!

India Traveling Wiki

This wiki on traveling in India (http://india.wikia.com/wiki/India_Travel) does not have too much information at the moment. However, slowly more and more content is being added here. The interface and layout is simple and straightforward, but more content is required for this wiki before it can become a really useful one.

However, the traveling India wiki is part of the larger India wiki (http://india.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page). This has much more information regarding India and is growing on the number of sections available. Still, both of these places do suffer from a lack of the amount of information present. Though it seems to be getting better slowly as more information is being added.

Book Report

The book I chose to read and do a book report on was on Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online by Michael Miller. This book primarily focuses on some of the most popular web-based applications used today. Basically, “Cloud Computing” is a term often used to those applications which are not desktop-based but instead web-based. The “cloud” meaning somewhere within the World Wide Web. That something, of course, is made up of servers, databases, and computers. When we talk about web-based applications, we talk about those applications which we usually use an internet browser to use. Such applications most of us use are the popular email-based services such as Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Gmail. Applications such as these can be run on any computer and can be accessed by anyone anywhere. The book now refers these applications as cloud-based applications. The book gives a good history and understanding about cloud computing. It also covers many of the frequently used cloud-based applications such as Google Docs, Microsoft Office Live Workspace, Adobe Photoshop Express, and Apple MobileMe to name a few.

This book would be great for anyone interested to learn more about any of the web-based applications frequently used today and to understand and learn how these cloud-based applications are being used and how it affects the way we interact with one another. It also gives some great tips and advice for you to start using cloud computing to benefit you. I personally found this book to be very insightful and useful. I learned so many different web-based applications from reading this book. Many of which I had never used before and some that I never had heard of before. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read and I would definitely recommend it to others.

Some of the strong points of this book were just the pure amount of information presented regarding Cloud Computing and the variety of cloud-based applications introduced to you in this book. Even a novice would understand and be able to use many of these applications after he/she has read this book. It is presented in a fairly simple manner and is generally easy to understand. They are also plenty of screen shots to give you visual examples as you get introduced to the many different applications available in here. The book is also wonderfully divided up into appropriate parts and chapters. It starts with an introduction where you learn to understand Cloud Computing. Then it goes into how it will help you, which is divided into three sections, one for your family, one for your community, and finally one for the workplace. Then it goes into detail on the various cloud-based applications. Finally, it wraps with a nice section which deals with other services which are web-based, but not strictly cloud-based such peer-to-peer services like instant messaging. The only real weak point I found was it talked about a lot of not so famous applications and how to use them. While it is good to give different examples of the applications available, I think here the author has gone a little too far and has given too many different examples to the user. One would begin to wonder how someone could have enough time to use so many different types of applications! However, this is a really good book overall and is definitely something to check out if you are really interested in this stuff. I give it a B+ rating.

Pyramid Valley

Pyramid Valley is a little valley located just outside of Bangalore. This unique place belongs to Buddhists who this place as a meditional valley. The highlight of this valley is the huge man-made pyramid. This is also the world's largest meditional pryamid. The entire place is a beautiful sanctuary away from all the noise and lights of the city.

The pyramid itself is a beautiful structure with fantastic drawings all around it. In the middle of the pyramid, you will find a spiraling staircase which leads the person half-way up the pyramid. This place is appearantly exactly half-way up and in the exact middle of the pyramid. The Buddhists believe that being in the exact middle is the perfect spot for meditation. All along the pyramid are various statues of Buddhas. The entire valley exudes a tranquil and peaceful mood. Although not fully completed until another year, this place is a great place to come and just get away from everything. I visited this place last year and would definitely reccommend it to all who visit Bangalore.

Chennai (Madras)

Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is the capital city is the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu. This also the place that I was born in. While this would be considered my 'home,' I only spent the first few months of my life living in this city. I have, however, visited the city many times over the years. The most recent being last year. Chennai is located on the Eastern coast of India and touches the Bay of Bengal/Indian Ocean.

Chennai and Tamil Nadu in general have a distinct culture that differs from the rest of India. Just like the South, Northeast, Midwest, West regions of the U.S. have their own unique culture, India is much the same in its different parts. The tastes and flavors present in Chennai are unique to this part of India. The food served here is usually more spicy and flavorful. Most of the inhabitants will speak the local language which is Tamil, and of course, English. The entire state is filled with beautiful beaches that run from the East Coast all the way to the Southern tip of India.

Ooty (Ootacamund)

Ooty, short for Ootacamund, is a hill top town that sits high in the Nilgiri Mountains in the southern part of India. It sits approximately 7,500 feet above sea level and is famous for their tea and chocolates! Because of its high altitude, Ooty is the perfect place to grow tea. Numerous tea plantations are located throughout this area. Ooty chocolates are another famous delight of this region. Since tea and chocolates are what this little town is famous for, they decided to combine the two and have made their signature Ooty chocolate tea! And yes, it is amazing!

Ooty is about a five hour drive from Bangalore and has a wonderful winding road up the Nilgiri Mountains. Lush mountain greenery surrounds the drive up into the mountains. Once into Ooty, this quaint little town welcomes you with its fresh clean air and magnificient sights. I made this same drive last Fall on the way to Ooty. A really beautiful and scenic place to visit. A definite tourist spot for nature lovers!


Driving Through the Clouds

A Tea Plantation