Shyam's Blog

It was our pleasure to perform in the International Banquet at Utah State. Thanks to International Students' Council for having invited us to present our music. We performed two pieces - one in 'Yaman kalyan' and the other in 'Des'. The former was a song on 'Sharada' and the latter was a Thillana. Here are some of the pictures of our performance. The show was a grand success with performances from India, China, Japan and Africa. I am sure the audience liked the evening which showcased talents from around the globe. Good food really added extra flavor and spice to the Banquet. Charles on the keyboard, Krishna on Tabla, Deepti and I on vocals performing the Invocation. Charles on Drums and Deepti on vocal for Thillana in Desh Deepti and I on vocals

It will be a good idea for someone to share their experience on a few things. How to... 1) buy a car with the best deal? 2) buy air travel ticket for lowest price? 3) buy a property? 4) Invest in stocks and shares? Many a times, I have seen people call friends to get suggestions and ideas. Most of the above things have traps which are unknown for first time buyers. As far as the first two things above, I know a couple of things. 1) To buy a car, always make sure you make sufficient down payment - 30% down payment is really good. Have a good credit history. Otherwise, interest will be too high. Always negotiate with the APR they quote. Car dealers ramdomly quote 6.5%(or above) interest. Just enact to walk out of the building if they don't give 5% or less. Best thing to remember is always bargain. Tell that, "store X is giving the same for 'y' amount and with extra features". Always make the dealer compete with other dealers. Else, they will behave as kings. 2) Air ...

Our house was always filled with evening visitors. The type of visitor ranged from 'pakkadh-mane' auntie (neighbour auntie) for a cup of tea, to, mom's patient(10 years ago) from some far away town visiting us. To describe a few instances of such visitors, here is what I recollect. I have to mention one thing here - visitors were real obstacles for me and my brother when my mom was making wonderful evening snacks for us. Just when she started making onion bhajji, or bread bonda, or masala dosa, or anything delicious, door bell rang :(. There was one family in one of the places we lived - they were family of five with 3 kids coming on a Kinetic Honda. Their arrival was matched with our mom's masala dosa session. When delicious dosa is being prepared inside, outsiders will surely smell sitting in the living room. With no options, they had to be invited into dining hall to make them taste mom's dosa. After dosa, a dose of tea to end the evening with more disappointmen...

For all the geeks and non-geeks ;), today is Pi day. What is it? Remember the value of Pi? 3.14 ??? Today is 03 month and 14th day. So, enjoy the Pi day. Do things related to pi. Eat apple pie, read the book 'the life of Pi', watch the movie 'American pie', and do some complex math related to the number pi. If you find a girl with her last name Pai, ask for a date ;). ha ha ha.

I am wearing a shirt which I wore first during my college. This is the same shirt I wore for my Oncampus interview and got selected! Not to mention, my brother got me this shirt for my birthday in 2000. Oh! long time to own a shirt in a neat condition. Thinking about, 'five years ago' and today, such a huge difference I see in everything. Where was I then? What did I dream then? Comparing this to 'where am I now?', and 'what do I dream to see myself 5 years down the line?'. Surely, many would agree if I say, things have changed a lot. Be it cell phones in India or the new fashion trends. For me, it has been a long walk these years. It has been a jumping one to say the least. After graduating with a BE and having a job in hand, I was enjoying my post BE vacation till the start date of my first job. Because of IT crash, companies stopped taking in freshers. I sat home for few more months to prepare for a new challenge - UPSC exams. Bought books and started in that...

Logan Canyon - snow capped rocks View of Bear Lake from scenic view point Ice formation inside a cave

I visited Logan this weekend and had a nice oncampus walk. Let me now walk you through my walk! I started off from ECE building. Here is the first picture showing the faculty list. Have a look at EL208 door. Zoom into those posts on the door. Sun lab door. That post is there since 2004. After reaching the ECE office, I notice that part of Old Engineering Building had been brought down. Here is the rubble of that. The next picture shows the vacant space of the Merrill Library which once stood there. The big building you see is the business building. A famous view of USU quad!!! Do you remember this board? TSC notice board. Want roommates? bicycle? Car? Computer??? Next board - Most important one in those days! Job board. No job today man!!! :( After that long walk from ECE to TSC in freezing weather of 13F temperature, I had a coffee at TSC Quickstop (near TSC Computer lab) and headed for a drive to Logan canyon.

Here is a link which is worth watching on You Tube. It is a clipping of Chinese Circus. At one point, the lady stands on her toes on the arms of the man. Super flexible body and great act. Watch it here...