Thought for the day

Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do, what they need is one reason why they can.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

The last summer day

THE LAST SUMMER DAY

On a summer day

The best time to come out and play

Me and my friends were doing the same

In the first week of May

Streaming sweat on our forehead

Our hair as dry as hay.

A drop fell on my forehead

Cooling it and reminding us

That it was the last summer day

Then I looked up to see

What interrupted us at play

Then was when I noticed

The blue sky turning grey

More drops followed the first

Quenching the warm land’s thirst.

A roar of thunder came loud

Made the sun run behind the cloud

We ran back home, by my mother’s call

And at home, sticking my nose on the window

There were lots of things I did see

I saw the world shower

Washing the roads clean

The stormy wind’s power

Made the towers seem to lean

There was a splash of water

Which washed the world clean

The trees swayed along

For the wind’s playful song

The sky scolded the sea

And seized the vast sky

But Posideon’ s rage was no less

And shook the sea with might

But soon, the storm stopped,

With a smile, the sun appeared

Drops of dew on the window pane,

Like diamonds they glittered

I smelt the fresh air

And saw the world bright

The birds chirped again, the weather so calm
I smiled, for i knew, the picture was much clearer.

princess of the night sky

Princess of the night sky

After the colourful sunset,

The attractive colour splashed palette

In flowed the night

In no time

Spread the sky with pure black

So had we, to go to sleep

Before the next busy day,

But it began to creep

And my heart began to leap

As the room became dark

The howling of a dog, the hooting of an owl

Made my tummy growl

Then I made myself calm, and kept still

And my eyes wandered to the window sill

There I saw the Pretty One

Dancing in her lovely white gown

And her face, lit up with a smile

But when she saw me, she was usually shy

Ran and hid behind a cloud , with a silver line

But soon she was back

And was collecting stars

To arrange them in the black

The Orion, the Dipper the great and little Bear

And the best the night can wear

She skipped and jumped in the midnight sky

And the wind translated her silent laugh

It gave a soft whisper

As she tossed the stars around

And threw them to the midnight ground

Her lullaby, carried by the wind

Soothed me to sleep

And as she sung, she never forgot to remind

To make the night bright there always will be

The princess of the night sky.

charles dickens

Charles dickens

Charles Dickens was born in 1812. His father was unable to manage his money properly, and when Dickens was a child, the family was always worried and poor. They lived in London some of the time,  but moved often. It seemed that Dickens would  not be well educated. His father did not pay his debts and was sent to prison. Dickens ’s mother and four of her children went to live with him. Dickens, who was still a young boy, had to work in a factory. However, his father’s position improved and he was sent to school again.

                          He became a clerk in a lawyer’s office, and later as a newspaper reporter. He began writing short stories and by the time he was twenty five, he had become famous and popular. He has written a lot of classics like David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby , Scrooge and tale of two cities. Dickens married and had ten children. He died in 1870.

onam wishes

Happy independence day

Still Curious and Red- Mission Mars

05.32 GMT, few athletes at the Olympic Village were up, stretching, gearing up mentally and physically focusing on the podium, visualizing their victory and kissing their well deserved medal. 

Across, the pacific, a Team, possibly the best scientists and astronomers had their eyes glued to the flawless landing of the "Curiosity rover" which was lowered by 25 foot long cables from a hovering rocket stage on the Red planet we call - Mars. The media reports that the Curiosity caries the most sophisticated movable laboratory. 

An admirer of Astronomy, through this blog, I Congratulate the entire TEAM behind successful landing of the Curiosity. 

friendship day

poem on ozone layer

A Poem on Ozone Layer

Refrigerators and air conditioners

As we use today

But nobody knows the truth

It is wrong to use all day

Outside our Earth, outside our world

There is somebody struggling today

For the benefit of tomorrow

It had to pain today

The things we use for our comfort

All these today

 Would pain us tomorrow

Which we ignore today

As the children of Earth we should

Protect Ozone today

Who struggles for our safety

Still protects us today.

Poem on child labour

Why couldn’t I be like them?

They asked me                                    

Who’s the most unluckiest child

In the world amongst

The children so mild

You’ll think it is me

When I tell you my story

As sad as it could be

You’ll never wish to be like me

I was born to be alone

And I haven’t seen my parent’s face

Sad, dull and grey

Were all my days

I started to work

At an early age

They made me feel like

My life was in a cage

They made me break stones

And wash their dirty dishes,

Demolished and crumbled

Were all my lovely wishes

They never gave me

Proper food to eat

All they did to me

Is to torture and beat

When I see other children

So bright and happy

Lovely and sweet

Will be their days

They learn and they play

All the day

Showered in love

Are they every day

To God, I always ask

Why couldn’t I be like them

But I got no answers

I wish I could be like them.

Niagara Falls- Nik Wallenda made historic Tightrope Crossing over the majestic Niagara Falls

That's me admiring the Majestic Niagara Falls.
Aerialist Nik Wallenda made a historic tightrope crossing over Niagara Falls on Friday night, stepping onto safe ground in Canada to wild cheers after completing his journey through wind and mist on a 2-inch (5-cm) cable.


Great Feat!

World Environment Day - First Prize

World Environment Day: Won the First Prize for Essay Competition organized by CWRDM (Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode), held in connection with the World Environment Day 2012

Shirley and her Angel Kittens..Soon to hit all book stores

Shirley and Her Angel Kittens...6

Shirley felt the wave of fresh air brush her hair, despite the mayhem and noise, as she rushed out to the lawn adjacent to her classroom.  She felt a strange feeling of calmness –like the silence before a major storm. It was the ringing of the school bell, the last time this year, signalling the onset of the vacation, and sent the children into pandemonium.  The children surely were overjoyed after the long stress of Annual exams.

This book is due to hit all book stores... Your prayers and good wishes shall make my maiden book a SUCCESS.

Hublot - Swiss.

Hublot Geneve -Swiss Excellence - When they make them, they ensure that they make the BEST.

Happy Mothers Day

For the prettiest woman………..

Oh Mama

You’re the brightest among the stars

The fragrance in the rose

You’re the diamond among the pebbles

The language in a prose

Amongst all problems piled

Bundles of work and tiring toil

But still, for us you smiled

With all grace and charm

It’s  your birthday

And I, surely will tell you

Only the luckiest of the lucky

Will get a mother like you

Munnar ..great place to unwind

www.keralatourism.org

A family trip to Munnar...  Just stand there and thank Almighty God..for creating such beautiful landscapes...Pray that we human beings preserve it..

Identify this Lepidoptera

Call it the butterfly... or moth...this colours and pattern on this beauty was simple but "eye-catching". Wonder what Lepidoptera is this?

Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed

The Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed. 600 hp, 12 Cyl, Top Speed of 322km/h. .

Simply Outstanding Performance
But to me, it represents all of the above, but most importantly, the Result of individual and combined effort and dedication of a Team of great craftsmen. - TEAMWORK WORKS 

Ferrari ...

Reminds us that...Speed is Good..So is direction and Control.. both on Road and in our lives

eXpresScience: Ferrari Pininfarina

eXpresScience: Ferrari Pininfarina

Diesel Jeans..Fit Your Attitude

Good Jeans... Excellent Caption. "Fit your Attitude".

Gadgets ..then and ...

Book review: Charlie and the chocolate factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory


This children's novel is one of the most famous masterpieces written by the world famous writer Roald Dahl. The story has been loved all over the world, and has also been made into a movie. The story is about a poor boy, Charlie Bucket, who loved chocolates. 


He gets a chance to visit the biggest Chocolate factory owned by Willy Wonka, by being one of the five lucky children to get the golden ticket to visit it.


The author wrote this lovable story, making it humorous and unforgettable by making and adding new words, and making the characters really funny, especially the four other children who got the golden ticket (Gluttony Augustus Gloop, Spoilt Veruca salt, Non-stop chewer Violet Beauregarde, and Mike Teavee, a television addict).  This indeed is a must read book. 

life is like a journey

Life is like a journey….

Life is like a journey

Which one can never end.

A very precious journey

That goes on to the end

A journey filled with happiness

Where sadness also could be

Sharp thorns of despair and gloom

We step before the soft petals of dreams

A journey we never walk alone

And with people in company

To choose the needs of the journey

Is the task of mine alone

Started from a soft path

Where people come to welcome us

The time when we lived in luxury

The time we choose our way

Came not too early

There was a fight all day

Between my dreams and destiny

The time when memories fill our heart

To say goodbye and stop our tour

Knowing there is a father

Waiting with a heart

We slowly end our journey.

Book review Matilda by Roald Dahl

My Favorite Book-Matilda

Matilda is one of the most loved book, written by the world – renowned author Roald Dahl. The  children’s favorite  has  been written with humor and wild imagination, and has succeeded to enter the reader’s hearts. The story is about a little girl who loves to read, in spite of her ironical parents, who thinks it is a waste of time. She is then joined to school, to meet her horrible headmistress and her lovely teacher, Miss. Honey, later to discover her extraordinary powers. The novel has a spell, which made us enjoy every page of it, and makes us read it, again and again.

Read and enjoy:The Curious Kids by Arathi Menon

The ghost in the bungalow

It was a lovely, breezy evening when my friends and I were playing cricket in our colony. Both the teams had two batsmen each, who were Nakul, Maanav, Sonu and Mike. Anup, Ron and Rashid served as the bowlers, fielders and Mohan, the wicket keeper. Dhruv did the commentary. My friends, Razia, Sweety and Lakshmi and few people in the neighborhood were there to watch the interesting and nail biting cricket match. My  cousin/nemesis Shreya, (who looked almost like a twin to me, but very different in character) was also present too.

                   Unfortunately, I was appointed as an umpire along with another nemesis of mine, Bunty. He along with Shreya and five others at school enjoyed annoying my best friend, Keerthi and me.

             The game went on well, until Mohan caught the ball, which was hit high by Nakul. I was about to say that he was out but;

“Not out!” Shouted Bunty

“It is clear that he is out!” I protested, “Mohan caught the ball”

“But I don’t think that he is out!” shouted Bunty “Let Shreya be the third umpire and make the decision”

“Nakul is out. You are just trying to save your team” I protested “I don’t think that Shreya will make a just decision anyway!”

“You are impossible!” Bunty smirked “And so is your clumsy friend, Keerthi”

I was already angry at Bunty for trying to cheat, but him insulting my best friend, was unbearable. I had no option but to tell it on his face. Grabbing at each other, we then rolled on the ground, as our friends did their best to pull us apart. Finally my mother came out and dragged Shreya and me into our house.

          I got enough scolding from my mother, and Shreya enjoyed watching it. To make it worse appeared Kumar uncle.

“Ritu” he called Amma “I have a complaint about your children”

Amma glared at us and looked back at him.

“I am sorry, uncle. You see, Deepu is hot tempered, silly enough to fight with those boys”

“That is not the complaint” said Kumar uncle “In fact, I enjoyed watching those hooligans fight”

“You mean that they have done something more?” asked Amma, looking at us angrily

“Trust me Amma. I haven’t done anything worthwhile today”

“The matter is that” Kumar uncle continued “The bungalow over there, the one which had been deserted for ten years, for people believed that the ghost of a cat who died then prevailed there. Certain melancholy noises from that bungalow have been disturbing us for ages. As I believe that ghosts do not exist, I believe that…”

“Do you girls have anything to say about this?”

“We will investigate” I said, “We have been serving…”

Kumar uncle raised an eyebrow.

“We will investigate,” said Shreya.

After Kumar uncle went, we plunged into discussion about the haunted bungalow, for getting ourselves out of trouble and for serving our Shalimar colony.

“I can’t believe this!” Shreya exclaimed, “When something strange happens in the colony, we get the blame”

“We must look into this case” I said thoughtfully “And prove ourselves innocent. I say, we must visit that bungalow tonight”

“Tonight?”

“Yes” I replied

That night, I had to drag Shreya to the bungalow. I took my detective kit (Binoculars, magnifier, scissors, chocolates) and put on my detective hat (just for fun). The bangalow  was totally cool inside, with rusty and dusty utensils, and broken photos, mostly of the dead kitten. It gave the house a spooky look. Poor Shreya tried to get rid of her fear while I had other plans.

“Shreya, don’t get scared” she told herself “There is no such thing as. …AAAAhhhhhhhhhh”

“Scared you” I said removing the cloak around me with triumph.

“Not funny!” she exclaimed, “Look there!”

She pointed towards a pile of chewing gum wrappers. We examined it, picked them up, and searched for more clues. We also got a guitar string too. Then suddenly, we realized that we were late and hurried back home.

            The next day I told Keerthi all about the bungalow. We were discussing about the bungalow at class, when

“Hey look! Rudolph’s back!” Bunty said, smiling wickedly under his large shades which covered his blackened eye. He was pointing at my nose, which he smashed, during the fight.

I lost my temper again. We were fighting again, when

“Mr. Singh! Miss. Iyer!” shouted Father Samuel, our history teacher. We decided to calm down. But for our shock;

“I will give you an assignment about the freedom struggle for this Friday. You will do it in pairs. Deepika will pair up with Bunty.”

I got shocked and looked at Bunty, equally shocked. The other children were put in pairs too, and then I met Bunty again after class.

“You can come to my house. Mom wants to meet you anyway”

 That evening, when I went there, Bunty's mother greeted me. She was a very sweet lady, and also was a good friend of Appa and his twin brother. She showed me a photo of herself as a girl and a pair of twin boys, younger than her, with spiky hair and wicked smiles.

“They were great,” she told me “Good boys who did the noble work of raising a new generation of pranksters. Dhruv and Bunty are great fans of them.”

She pointed at him and a bigger boy of eighteen, who was tall and had the same straight, untidy hair as Bunty had, who was teasing him.

“Nice spot, kiddo. Now Tiger has a twin too” He said, laughing wickedly, and was pointing to a puppy, with a black patch around its eye.

“Now I’m going to practice for my band ‘Disaster,’” he told him “and remember, do not even think of entering my room”.

He pointed at a notice stuck on one of the doors

‘No one will be allowed inside without the permission of Mr. Dhruv Singh’

He was soon gone, when Bunty said, “Let’s go to Bhaiya’s room”

It was surprising, though. While we did the assignment, Bunty and I became good friends. We talked about sports, food and the workload we have as we were now in the fifth grade. Then I noticed something.

“Does your brother chew?” I asked Bunty, pointing at the waste bin full of chewing gum wrappers.

“Him? Twenty four hours a day!”

“Does he play guitar”

“Yes. It is horrible. Yesterday, he lost a string in it. He was so sad.”

Finally, I got the culprit. I told Bunty, his mother and Shreya about it and got ready to welcome him. It was pretty soon, and as soon as Dhruv arrived, his mother dragged him to his study. We circled around him, who was seated in a chair, looking confused.

“What are you doing here, imprisoning me in my own study?”

“What were you doing in the bungalow?”

“What do you mean, Mom?”

“Were you and your friends making cacophonous mayhem in the bungalow?”

“What! We were just practicing our new song ‘Pain’”

 Bunty’s mother looked really angry.
 Poor Dhruv sighed.
We looked at each other.. and burst into laughter.

Sachin Tendulkar 100th International Century

It took over a year and five days for the Master blaster to get to his 100th International Century. "Enjoy your game and chase your Dreams. Dreams do come true" said Sachin.

Congrats to Sachin on being the first person to achieve this feat. 

A cricketer par excellence, he has been an inspiration and role model to billions of Cricket fans all over the world.

St Joseph's Anglo Indian GHSS 150 years of Excellence

Bharat Scouts & Guides Campoore 2012, Wayanad

Happy New Year

At the Carnegie Science Center

Rotorua Thermal site

Dental Hygeine

Fresh juice in the morning and milk either in the morning or evening have become part of our daily diet. Many a time we do not wash our mouth immediately after we consume milk or juice. This creates a perfect environment for cavities to form.
Take my advise - Rinse your mouth immediately after you drink juice of milk.. or at least, ensure that you drink warm water after you have consume food or drink milk...and keep Smiling.

Barcelona..

Barcelona.. The Lions spirit

Amazing Auckland

Internet Basics

Hey!.She is online. Oh! he's on the NET
The above comments are very familiar with all of us.
Well, have you ever wondered what these statement actually means?

Lets just take a roller-coaster ride through the basic..

Internet is a large network linking millions of computers world wide. One can access the network, and send or receive information through devices like modems, cables and Satellites. The networks are linked by Routers which identifies each unique address and sends the data.

We are familiar with Domain Names which have a suffix .com and .net. These Domain names have corresponding address or IP address which are numeric.

World Wide Web contains large amount of electronic information. Websites have one or many pages on information and links.

There are many Internet Service Providers, who provide access to Internet for a Fee based on time and duration of use.

If useful..you can click the like button.. Thanks

Merry Christmas

Kerala.. amazing landscapes

Sunset...even the birds love watching the Sunset

Ships are built to Sail

" A ship in a harbour is safe, but that's not what ships are built for"
                                                -  a great quote attributed to John A Shedd, Salt from my Attic (1928)

Happy Children's Day - in INDIA

11.11.11.11.11.11

Today is 11th of November. 
At 11am/pm, 11minutes and 11seconds, the date and time is:

11.11.11.11.11.11

This magical date has come after 100 years.

Disney Land..The Power of Dreams

A Visionary and ..a Mouse. Today it's the biggest family entertainment spectacle in the world..
Disney Land.. Amazing..Spectacular..

Sunset, as seen from my Terrace

Get Inspired..Smile, and make it a Habit

Inspiration and Motivation - A Great Link

Thinklink.in

The Wall Street Bull

Pic taken during my visit to the Wall Street

The Charging Bull or the Bowling Green Bull standing 11 feet tall, 16 feet long and made of 3200 kgs of Bronze, depicts the aggressive financial optimism and Prosperity. The Kinetic motion of the charging bull with its head lowered and nostrils flaring and the body language depicts the bull's immense energy and its power to progress ahead.

Ice Tea at Coffee Beanz

Rainbow

A rare phenomenon captured in location from where the pic was taken

Pajero, Endeavour & Santa Fe - 4x4 challenge

They still rule the 4x4 segment..
Real Thorough breeds

The Challenger