Stalked in San Francisco

After a long day of shopping, the family and I left for SF. It was quite cold compared to mountain view and also, we realized that we wouldn't have enough time to get back to home in time. So, we walked two blocks towards downtown and walked back the two blocks away from it and in good time we found that we were being stalked!

MV Arts and Wine Festival

Cuban jazz fusion band at one end and beautiful photography skills from the Czech Republic at the other, the Arts and Wine Festival in Downtown Mountain View just had me amazed.

I want to publish this post as a tribute to the awesome "artsy/musical" skills of my friends back in Columbia-Rachels A C K, Amy, and Walid- just because all the time I was there, i couldn't help but think how much they would have enjoyed it!

So it started with food stalls and the smell of steak was overwhelming me. I was about to throw up and ran a bit only to find some girls doing the Hula dance at the "Win a Free Trip to the Polynesian Islands" stall. And then as we moved along, every single stall started to catch my attention by fascination.

The Czech photographer was the first one. She clicked amazing pictures in cities around the world and they were just stunning pieces of 3D work...they were mostly taken in Prague, CR and Jaipur, India.
Then there were these shi metal scuptures made a little far south from San Diego in California.
And I could probably go on and on about every single experience of unique art I had today but Ill just let the pictures talk.

Foothill and Mountain View Downtown

Yet another beautiful and sunny day with nice winds :)
Mountain View gives me the impression of Charleston streets (a historically significant city in South Carolina), a coastal area with palm trees and the constant humidity, except for the fact that there are other trees too and it looks better than Charleston!
It's very refreshing to be here (and outside of Columbia). The colorful houses here make the city resemble a city one would find in Latin America or Spain. The city is also surrounded by "Los Altos" hills, which make being outside very pleasant!

My Secret Pleasure...(Playing Around with handmade Paper)

This semester has managed to make me quite miserable. I have never been without a smile on my face in a long long time...
So while the spring break was going on, I decided to take out my anguish and burden by taking up two more painting projects.

My charcoal painting is my version of Waterhouse's Boreas and my second piece for this style :)
I have been trying to find the time and piece of mind for her dress and face since last summer. I still haven't mustered up the courage to give her life (and features). So maybe, by the end of this weekend, I might have her all done, and ready to be up here.

This other one is a traditional style of painting called "Madhubani" which origins from a town of the same name in the eastern state of Bihar, India. Since the artists are simple people with little or no tools and paints to work with, they usually use natural inks made from leaves, flowers, and pretty much anything they can find. The outlines are made with wooden sticks and the color is filled in with these sticks snipped, shaved, and peeled apart at the end to give it the texture of a paintbrush. Often times though, cotton is used too.

My modern-day substitute?
Black ball point ink pen and markers.
This one has become quite special because my mom(my teacher) has grown quite fond of it; It'll hang wherever she takes it along with her =)

Blissful in Ignorance or Miserable in Wisdom?

Which way would you rather chose to live?

Persepolis

Persepolis is, perhaps, the best story ever told. Marjane Satrapi has a very simple yet enchanting way of taking people through the life of a nine year old girl who grows in revolutionary Iran, (later taken over by fundamental Islamists) and moves to Vienna all vulnerable. It is the story of this enduring girl who struggles between being a true Iranian at heart and fighting the tyranny that now governs the society.

To me, this movie was a great example of the experiences that come along with cultural chages and the perspectives one is exposed, and involuntarily given, while going through such drastic events in their lives.

Even though the writer only portrayed Iran as the "deeper and more complexed culture" as opposed to the modern day view of fundamentalism, fanatacism, and terrorism, clearly, this viewpoint applies to all the people suffering under these generally held misconceptions and prejudices.
And so, I highly recommend watching it to get a real glimpse of the worlds beyond our world.

BANAA- Building Sudan

All across the United States , students in a few universities are trying to bring atleast one student BANAA scholar from Sudan and fund their four year education.

Why Sudan? Why Scholarships?

In its 52 years of independence, Sudan has spent 40 years struggling between conflicts due to vast differences in income, inrastructure, education, and poilitical power. For this very reason, the Sudan Educational Empowerment Network has come up with this amazing program-"BANAA"- which will provide selected talented young Sudanese with "a four-year US undergraduate education, apprenticeships with global NGO leaders, and jobs in conflict resolution and sustainable development back in Sudan", thereby, helping the Sudanese bring peace to their nation.

The initiative of educating young people for building their countries is definitely a smart way to help make peace in the world today.The first BANAA scholar is scheduled to arrive at the George Washington University the coming fall and the Tufts, Mills College, and University of Florida are on their way trying to get a scholar by 2009. At the University of South Carolina, we are at the initial stages of signing a petition and sending it our President to get these scholarships going in action. If you want to do the same, the steps are easy. Visit the official website www.banaa.org which gives stepwise instructions for starting the process and bringing your efforts to a great headstart. There is also a link to the global facebook group regarding the same.

Incredible India

This post is for all of my friends who have always wanted to visit India or even know about it...
And all I can ever find to say is that they HAVE to visit it to know and get a glimpse of it!

Anyhow, here's a short documentary, and one of the best ever, issued by the Tourism ministry.

All I can say is that video is quite just in balancing the act of providing a window to many different sides of this country.

So cheers to Incredible India!

Wonders of the Cell

My Cell and Molecular Biology class is a spectacle!
Our second day of lecture, we were shown this amazing video about the Inner Life of a Cell.
This movie should be a sight for anyone who is as enthralled by biology as I am :)

By the end of this semester, I should be able to tell everything that's going on.

Political Cartoons

In light of the ongoing chaos in the entire world, specially in America because of the elections, here's a cheers to Times' collection of some heart-lightening cartoons just in time to save your overloaded head from blowing up!
Here's the link.
And here are just a few...