Canada Experience.

After spending almost Eight weeks in Toronto, it is time to jot down my experiences in this lovely North American Land called Canada. We came in beginning of May and as we left in the beginning of July, it was very pleasant days and enjoyable nights with comfortable temperatures. Ideal for moving around the country side.

We visited, Blue Mountain Resort near Toronto, Niagara Falls, Ottawa and I alone visited Peterborough to meet my old school friend a classmate, whom I met after 58 years ! It was a memorable reunion after almost six decades !

Ottawa was a great experience. Beautiful city, friendly people and all the Old World majesty and culture of the British. Changing of Guard at the old Parliament House resembled the Change of Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London. The same red coat uniforms with the characteristic long black woolen caps or hats on the heads of highly disciplined young guards.

The University , the Libraries and Museums were just out of this world. Majestic , monumental old buildings and a really relaxed way of Life. A paradise to live and work. The Lake, the boating facilities, the well kept walking paths amidst unending greenery. The whole city sits on one grand green carpet.

Mississauga was another suburb I visited to meet an old friend of mine, that reflected the pleasant profile of Toronto.

And a city sight seeing drive with one Mr. Geoff Cape, CEO of a NGO called Evergreen was the most memorable event after my son's Graduation Ceremony at the Toronto University. Mr. Cape was an exceedingly pleasant gentleman full of zest for friendship and courtesy personified towards his fellow beings.

The North York City Library was my favorite haunt on many an afternoon. Great Library, with such quiet ambience most suited for a relaxed reading experience. Every Friday they would screen a good movie, followed by hot Tea / Coffee and snacks. A pleasant and rewarding two hours in the afternoon to see some memorable movies and interact with the film buffs after the show.

And can I forget the event " Shakespeare in High Park " ! A great open air performance by Students of Theatre enacting in immaculate style the Shakespeare Greats, Comedy of Errors and Julius Ceaser.
What a performance the young students delivered ! Out of this world.


Canada and Toronto will always be on my list for a once more visit, God Willing.

Toronto is the place I would love to spend the rest of my life if only it is possible. Lovely climate in Summer, may be a tough time in Winter but it would be worth enduring to wait for the pleasant summer months that will follow the bitterest of winters.

Deepak's Graduation at University of Toronto.

The other day we attended the Convocation in Toronto University where Deepak took his MBA degree. What an impressive function it was !

The age old British traditions are still observed here. The grand Convocation Hall, the orderly manner in which the whole ceremony is conducted and the patience with which the Chancellor meets almost 400 graduates , may be only for a couple of seconds , the smiling handshake he extends to all Graduates is so very marvelous.  So inspiring to the Graduate who is going out in to the big wide world. And the beautiful , crisp and encouraging message he gives them before winding up the proceedings. Some thing out of this world. Great thoughts shared in simple words !

The Chancellor formally convenes the Convocation by saying " In concilium Universitatis Torontonensis vocati sumus " .  In Latin.

And brings the proceedings to a close by saying. " Concilium dimissum est " ! In Latin again.

The old world charm is all there.  It appears that King 's College, the precursor to the University of Toronto was granted its Royal Charter by King George IV, on March 15 , 1827 !

A hoary past, indeed. And traditions being maintained and followed till this day ! Great.

It was my dream to study in a great university. My son Deepak realized it for me. Iam really satisfied and happy for Deepak.

North York, Canada

Deepak / Rajeswari shifted their residence from High Park to another suburb called North York.

The area known as Canterbury Place is a lovely residential and commercial district, beautifully laid out. High rise apartments on the Main Road called Yonge Street and upto two blocks inside off the main road and behind these high rise apartments / offices, lovely Avenues with individual houses of Ground plus One floor are laid out in a most picturesque way, with plenty of greenery in the front and back of the houses.

It just looks like a Fairy Tale Township with Doll Houses and straight streets, Avenues and intersections so well planned that one can never get lost.

This place looks like a piece of Tranquility brought down from some other world and just planted in Canada ! So quiet, so cool, so pleasing to the senses that one has to come and see to believe this.

Toronto is really a place to live and enjoy life. People are not only cordial but have a very high civic sense built into theit Psyche. They follow all traffic rules consciously and respect the other person's space. Live and let live is actually practiced here.

And what can I say about my morning walks ! Oh truly it is a dream come true to walk on those well laid out walk paths amidst greenery and trees that even a pathway looks like an Avenue in miniature.you can walk for ever and will never get tired in these pleasant conditions.

Blessed are these wonderful people who have such an exquisite city to live in. How I wish I could settle down here ! If They can give me citizenship or at least permanent residency facility !

What they have naturally, what we lack unfortunately !

Children have this uncanny trait and the best habit in built into their Psyche, to forget and forgive instantly once the situation is over. They fight tooth and nail for the same toy or same book or for any thing that they seek. And as easily as they got worked up, they give up and totally forget the incident within minutes.

Where as we adults never forget some one's indiscretion against us. We remember that for a life time and accumulate the grudge and hatred as much as possible. It is our Ego that does not allow us to forget the past incidents or words that could have happened or done against us. There is no word as "forget " and " forgive " in our dictionary. We build up tensions till we land up with hypertension.

The other day my grand son Arjun was disobeying me right Royally by not listening to my command to refrain from talking on the Mobile when it is under charging. He went a step further, when I removed the charger from the plug socket,by putting his tiny finger in the plug socket and switching it on. I lost my cool and spanked him on the bottoms and hit him on his fingers with a scale, to dislodge him from the electrical point. He raised hell, crying and ran to his grandma to complain on me.

Within seconds he came back to me laughing and started playing with me as if nothing happened between us ! He just forgot and forgave the grand pa's cruelty !

I realized that my Ego would have never allowed me to make friends again with some one who roughs me up, what ever may be the reason.

That is what my grandson had and I miserably lacked. If only we Adults behave in a more mature manner in this world, perhaps, half of our problems will disappear !

The King Of Breakfasts !

Peasarattu, is the name of a typically Telugu Dosa made from Moong Dal. It is eaten with Upma as a combo, and finely cut green chillies, onion and ginger are sprinkled inside the Pesarattu, while it is still on the Tavva ( the baking pan on fire ). One can feel the greatness of its taste only when you are eating it. It cannot be described in words.

In the twin Godavari districts of coastal Andhra, it is even a part of the night Dinner. You will be surprised that it makes a great Dinner dish as well.

Another receipe which is The Copy Right Receipe of Telugu people is the Dibba Rotte, or the local bread made without baking in an oven ! The combo for this item is the Universally Acclaimed Aavakaya ( Mango Pickle ), which again is A Proprietory Dish of the Telugus ! This Unique Dibba Rotte can be good for any meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is made of Udath Dal.

I am only waiting for an Enterprising and Adventurous Businessman / Woman to join hands with me to open Outlets for these items in Metros like Delhi, Singapore, Chicago, New Jersey, San Francisco to start with. You can rest assured these Eateries will be a Runaway Success overnight.

Any takers ?

You must have real Guts to believe in this venture. It is not for Doubting Thomases !

Ha ! We have come into 2015 !! May God Bless This Planet and its queer Humans !!!

                     Yes, we have entered 2015.  May God Bless Us All and Our Planet Earth and protect us from all Disasters, Natural as well as  Human Made.  Happy and Healthy  New Year 2015 to all my cousins, friends and  all well wishers.

                    Vasudeva Kutumbikam,  Sarve  Jana  Sukhino  Bhavantu, is what our Ancient Universal Vedic Religion teaches us.  Let us all veer away from Hinduism and all Isms, and adopt the Universal Vedic Way Of Life. Let us go away from Religion and  adopt Humanity as a way of Life.

                   2014, has been a mixed bag. Disasters, Malaysian plane going missing since March, crashes over Ukraine and over the Indonesian Seas just before the year ended,  killings of innocent school children by mindless inhuman Terrorists and the out break of Ebola disease and many more such unknown and unreported calamities, made the year a year to regret.

                  On the Good Side, we Indians got a dynamic Prime Minister in Mody, what ever his Critics may call him. He is going to do good to the Nation.

               Hyderabadies got a New State for themselves, Telengana, the Promised Land by Prophet KCR to develop the once forgotten backward State.  Hopefully KCR should deliver his Promises. May God Bless Telengana and its People.

               Coastal Andhra gets a Brand New Capital and a dynamic Leader NCBN is leading them to greater glory in 2015 and beyond. May God Bless this new state and its People.

            A belated but Sincere Happy New Year to all my Friends, Cousins and well wishers.

               

Our Roots, Our Moorings, Our Place

It is strange but we get accustomed to our neighbourhood surroundings, to such an extent that we start missing the atmosphere, and the environment, if we go out of our place, even for a short visit.

The friendly Baker, the Green Grocer, the tailor, the Post Man, the Morning Walker,  the Bank, the Post Office and a myriad other small places where we are recognized instantly, make us feel at home. We feel we are in our place ! And that this place belongs to us ! We are from this place, a reassuring feeling.

The same thing happens to us when we go to our village, where every other person, why,  almost every person in the village smiles at you and asks about your welfare. You are encompassed by your  " own people ", your own village, your own trees, birds and the cattle and even the street dogs ! Perhaps this is what they call   " my roots " or   " my moorings "  are here  !

This sense of belonging is hard to get rid of, how ever much you would like to shed these Roots and migrate to distant shores. Even after going round the best places on Earth you tend to opt to go back to what we call " my home ".

And when you are back in your own domain,  a sense of comfort, a sense of  fulfillment,  fills our hearts. And when you are away from your place, you feel Home Sick. 

This happens to all other living beings, too,  animals, birds and even wild animals in the Forests. They all crave for their " Our Place " !

Ramachandra Parsa

The Sun and the Sodium Vapour Lamp.

Quiet Flows the River and the Life in the Woods.

During winters, the Sun rises in the morning sky after 6 : 30 A M. By then the Street Lights are not yet off. It is still dark in a mild way. Kahin Andhera, Kahin Ujaala, dark some where, light some where.

My house is on the top of a small hillock, a mound so to say. When I am returning from my morning walk, I have to climb an incline, an up gradient. As I negotiate this terrain, I see alternately a Sodium Vapour Street Lamp, in its deep orange glow and the Sun in all its Grand Effulgence and Light that sustains Life on Earth, plants,animals,birds and humans.

When the two are so juxtaposed, I wonder, at the Man made Lamp and the God Created Celestial Light of Sun.

 The Sun is worshipped as a God not only by Hindus, but also by the Inca Indians of Peru and in the Andes Mountains of South America . They call their Sun God,   Kon Tiki. 

Man must have been spell bound at the radiance of this Mighty Light in the Heavens and quickly concluded that it must be the Visible God. 

To-day, Science says, Sun is nothing but a mighty Star full of burning gases and in a couple of billions of years this Star will die. O K. But, pray who created those burning gases, those celestial orderly movements of the Sun so methodically done with such precision that one cannot replicate the same at any time, for ages and ages together ?  Definitely not Science ! 

Ramachandra Parsa. November 07, 2014

Aamir Khan's Suggestion on Electoral Reforms

Yesterday, Saturday,May 3, 2014, Vividh Bharati broadcasted an interview with Aamir Khan, which was very thought provoking and most topical for the day.

Aamir Khan spoke at length on the present system of electing our Representatives to the various Legislatures and the Parliament. Our present system is,  First Past the Post is winner. That is when a candidate gets even ONE vote more than his nearest opponent he is declared as the winner in the Elections.

A simple majority is the criteria for a legislator or Parliament contestant to win. This encourages Politicians to divide the Voters into as many  groups as possible so that Vote Banks are created in every Constituency.

Muslims,  Christians,  Kammas,  Reddys,  Reddy Christians, Kapus, Yadavs, Jats, Dalits, and many many more sub sects. In Andhra Pradesh, even Scheduled Castes have been divided into Malas, Maadigas, OBCs and so on and so forth.

The idea is,  even if one group fully votes for you,  the required extra vote / votes are polled in your favour and you win the election.

Aamir's suggestion is that a winner should be determined, on the per centage of votes he polls in the constituency. Only when he polls at least 51 % of the total votes polled, he can be declared a winner. Aamir claims that when this happens, Politicians will have no choice than uniting people to get the required percentage, where as now they are actively engaged in dividing people into small small splinter groups to serve their ulterior motives to get a simple majority.

Aamir claims that in many countries this system is in vogue. And that the next Lok Sabha sitting after May 16,2014,  must seriously debate this matter and bring in the required legislation for such Electoral Reforms.

In my opinion there is a lot of validity in this suggestion and deserves a Nation Wide debate and a dispassionate view of the required Electoral Reforms. Let all patriotic citizens of India brood over these thoughts.

Let India have a clean, impartial, transparent  and  fully ethical Electoral System.