Mumbai - will terrorism ever stop in this world?

Can terrorism ever stop? What happened in Mumbai is terrible and should not happen ever again. Now digging deeper, it is evident that there was enough warning to Indian security agencies and there may even be details pointing to the location. Why were there no security measures? It is true that there are definitely a few guilty folks within India but that is a shame. Hearing about the plan to kill thousands and ending up with a dead toll of about a couple of hundred, I wonder if the terrorists groups are mourning a partial victory and the fear that they might come to the lime light with all the international attention.

I do not know if this is to do with religion but if it is I am sure these folks have read their religion wrong. Most of the well known terrorist groups should be demolished taking this as an opportunity. How many of my friends outside India know about the challenges of living in Mumbai? Bollywood is world famous for the great movies, actors, glamour, etc. But amidst all that, there is a great challenge for most of those artists to live by the rules of the underworld dons. If bollywood with all the popularity, strength and wealth couldn't fight against the underworld, what can the others do? Security agencies there have not been able to catch these folks that are very well known to cause these activities. It is for sure that the support that these guys get must be broken.

Taj or Oberoi could have done better. I was amazed at the security measures at Chennai's Marriott hotel recently. Every vehicle entering was stopped and sniffed by dogs, checked by security personnel and people let in thro' metal detectors.

Now let's wait for the world leaders to go after the terrorist groups and bring them to justice!
Life goes on......

MGM Grand Las Vegas experience

My Vegas trip was just like other conferences - long hours of sitting thro' the sessions, being well fed, meeting folks and having fun. There were flight delays that kept me waiting at the airport for 2.5 hrs. But I felt blessed when I knew all flights to Vegas was delayed that day and some were even stranded in the runway!!! During my flight, little did I know that my worst waiting experience is yet to come.

The computer network in MGM Grand Hotel was down all day and so there were a few hundreds waiting in line to check in. My company had a welcome reception dinner and it was dinner time when I entered the hotel. We were asked to have dinner and then come back for check in. Hotel management complicated the situation by asking us to wait at the conference center to get our room keys. They started bringing the keys but were getting only 10 or so in an hour. Later, we all realized that they were calling out names of people who had already received their keys. So everyone started showing their frustration out loud. Hotel staff asked us to go to the lobby and line up for the keys. It was already 10:30 pm when they said that. We walked back to the lobby and lined up. After waiting for a couple of hours, I got my keys at 12:30 a.m.

It took the hotel staff almost half an hour per person to check-in. This country is so not set up for any manual processing. Lots of folks who left with their keys kept coming back to the front desk complaining that they went to their room and there was already someone in there. Boy..that is ridiculous and scary. What would it be like to enter someone's room after mid night? I asked them to call my room to make sure there was nobody.

Well...although they cannot figure out how to manually process they sure can show excellent customer service. The hotel left gift baskets or service credits for all those who underwent pain. :) The service credits were for food or entertainment some even going up to $200. People who got just gift baskets flocked the front desk and demanded for service credits. Everyone who asked got some to enjoy food, drinks, shows or spa at the hotel's expense. That was a nice gesture!

Off to Las Vegas :)

Life has been much better with my husband (Natty) coming back. Now it's that time of the year when I have to make a business trip for conference. This year, it's Las Vegas. I will be there for about 4 days. Let's see if I will get to see the spots that I've never visited during my prior Vegas trips...Like Stratosphere for the fun rides especially the free fall that I love to do and Wynn the latest hotel.

They don't come in singles

Last week was quite eventful and spooky. Just as if there wasn't enough going on, I got my 2nd traffic violation ticket in just 1.5 months after the 1st one. Bummer! What a mess!!! This time it was for making a right turn in to the freeway (illegal turn although it wasn't unsafe) while there was a turn only lane. It seems like a sweet spot for the cops coz there's always 3-5 cops in that freeway entrance and I've always wondered why. Now I know. :(

Halloween high spirits do get to you especially if you have kids and so it was a welcome distraction for me. I wore the same wig for the 2nd straight year and almost all my co-workers never remembered that I wore the same last year. ha ha :) That's the power of costumes and accessories. I did make a couple of school visits (party/parades) for Nishan, my nephew and niece. Most parents don't dress up. It was somewhat a wet Halloween and so there were just a third of the normal trick-or-treaters.

Finally, my single mom duties seem to be coming to an end this week. :)

Kids can be thoughtful

It's already mid week and I've been doing well this week with schedules. :)
There are not so much of nice events to watch at work. :(

Last weekend was a rather nice weekend with no planned activity. So just as I headed out not knowing where to go, I asked Nishan for a suggestion. He asked me to go to Valco Mall saying "Isn't that where JC Penney Store is". I tried asking him why we would go to a mall that's so dead in the midst of a renovation with nothing to do for there are play areas in the other malls. He reminded me that there's a train display store. I told him that the train display is open only once or twice in a month. Well, we did go to Valco Mall. As soon as we entered JC Penney and walked up, he took me to the watch section and said "Mom, go look for a watch...thats why I brought you here. I don't care if the train store is closed." That's when I remembered that I had told him a few days ago that I was left with just one watch and asked him not to play with it. I was totally impressed!!!! Hope he stays that way as he grows up. :)

I am on my own...Life is tough

With my parents leaving and husband still in India, here I go finding out the real struggles of a single mom. The week has just started and I can already see eye bags and the headaches come every day. :(

It's such a relief that the navaratri season is over and weekends can be more relaxing. It's funny that navaratri in south india also used to have costume dressing (just for kids) as part of the 9 night festival. And here comes the halloween in a few weeks. Luckily, my son is dying to put back the same batman costume that he had for last year. I hope he doesn't change his mind.

Just a day or two before my parents left, I was switching on the home X system and my son says "Mom - Grandma asked me to tell you that you can't switch on the music especially when you go to the shower"...Then he also says "You can switch it on after they leave to India"...How smart!!!

Sex and the city movie - great example of premature aging

Finally, I managed to see "Sex and the city" movie on DVD. I felt like I was watching the movie a good 20-30 yrs after the TV series and that was all due to the disgraceful aging that SJP has gone through. Now, I will vote for “Sarah Jessica Parker-Looks-Like-a-Horse”. :)
http://www.sarahjessicaparkerlookslikeahorse.com/11.htm
Other than that, all the other girls looked very good and much younger than how they looked in the TV series. It’s no doubt the other gals managed to get better make-up artists or may be Botox (???)

October is National Breast Cancer awareness month. GO PINK!
You can make a click sponsor a mammogram at http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

Nishan's funny talk (need to know Tamil for this one)

Today, Nishan was saying "You guys go keep the garbage carts outside and by the time you keep it I will be done doing 2 pages of Kumon." When I said "intha pechuku onum korachal ila", he goes "aamam enaku vayellam odambu". He meant to say "enaku odambellam vaayee"...LOL

All of a sudden while listening to his bed time story, he asked his grandmother "After someone dies, who will give them food?". :)

First traffic ticket

Last sunday (Sep 14, 2008) I got my first traffic ticket for speeding:( I was on my way to my sister's place to help with make-up for my niece's dance program. Music was in full blast. Nishan and I were singing along. Lately, Nishan's favorite song is "Oh Oh Sanam" from dasavatharam. As per Nishan's rule, he must be singing most of it since it's mostly a male voice. I guess I got carried away and was singing along. Never paid attention to other parts of the road or looked thro' the rear view. Suddenly noticed this police car and saw that the cop was tail gating me.

When I stopped the cop said "Hello, How are you? Do you know what speed you were going at? You were going at 78." I was wondering how to sweet talk but didn't think that would help at all. I said "Sorry, officer. Hope your day is going well." (well...you already ruined mine.). After searching thro' my glove compartment for 15 mins I found my insurance and a temp registration. The cop came back with a written citation report that had my speed at 75. Not sure how much the lower speed will help. ;)

All veggie healthy food

Here is a good looking healthy veggies entree that a creative chef at Restaurant Seven (San Jose) created. This one is not served unless you ask for it. It is healthy and filling. It is amazing that you can get something as good as this in a restaurant that doesn't serve any veggie entrees.