2011

Well, the year 2011 has gone past, just sort of flew away. Nothing of any importance happened to me. It was an uneventful year. I didn't leave my home very much. Had a few visitors during Christmas. Attended midnight mass. Nothing much is happening around me and I spend most of my time rereading the books (Sydney Sheldon, John Grisham etc.) that I had collected over the years and watching TV. Nowadays there's nothing much interesting on TV also. Maybe something interesting will take place during 1012. Who knows? And I'll have something to write about.

Christmas

Christmas has come and it has gone. Had a lot of visitors, some of my wife's colleagues turned up for lunch. My daughter's father-in-law and mother-in-law also came. So did my wife's sister, her children and her granddaughter. Went to midnight mass at Santhome English Church. Met and greeted a few acquaintances. Here are some pictures of the decorations made at home.

Surveys

Have a look at this link:

http://Survey-Faq.com?ref=2426383

Wedding Engagement

Attended a wedding engagement of a son of a colleague and family friend of my wife. His name is Pradeep Alexander and that of the prospective bride Sindhu Rebecca. The engagement was held at Tambaram, a suburb of Chennai (Madras) in Tamil Nadu State in India. The function started off with some prayers and singing of songs. The engagement was a simple affair without much fanfare.

Here are a few pictures taken during the ceremony.

This is a picture of the ceremonial gifts that the prospective bridegroom gives to the prospective bride.

Here are some more pictures taken during the ceremony:

The prospective bridegroom

The Prospective Bride

The exchange of Bibles

The prospective bridegroom and bride exchanging rings

The ceremony ended with a blessing of the prospective couple a simple, prayer a general blessing of the gathering and dinner.

Quotes

Nothing eventful is happening around me so I'm resorting to some of the odds and ends that I had collected in some of my scrap books. Here are some interesting quotes that I had gathered over the years. You may have come across them some where else but here they are for what they are worth.

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat. - Jane Wagner

Delete the adjectives and you'll have the facts. - Harper Lee

Asking politicians to give up a source of money is like asking Dracula to forsake blood. - Cal Thomas

We meet aliens everyday who have something to give us. They come in the form of people with different opinions. - William Shatner

The squeaky wheel may get the most oil, but it is also the first to be replaced. - Marilyn vos Savant

Haste is good only in catching fleas. - Alla Yaroshinskaya

Where there is shouting there is no true knowledge. - Leonardo da Vinci

Old people really do have a secret, though. You wanna know what it is? Luck. - Carl Ferguson

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. - Hal Borland

Canned laughter indiscriminately robs humour of its subjectiveness. - Ajay Gopalkrishna

It is good to be spontaneous, it is good to be thorough, it is good to have something that inspires you. - Paul McCartney

"Fearless" is living in spite of those things that scare you to death. - Taylor Swift

Never harbour grudges; they sour your stomach and do harm to anyone else. - Robertson Davies

A lot of good things have come out of dreaming. - Arthur Miller

Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. - Dave Barry

Happy is the man who at the end of his life possesses only what he has given to others. - Armando Fuentes Aguirre

Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll get to enjoy it a second time. - H. Jackson Brown Jr.

If you're willing to fail interestingly, you tend to succeed interestingly. - Edward Albee

Without knowledge, the world is bereft of culture. And so we must be educators and students both. - Roberta Bondar

Your mind is often your own enemy. It can kill you through over-analysis. - Rina Dhaka

If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much. - Donald H. Rumsfeld

Usefulness is not impaired by imperfection. You can drink from a chipped cup. - Greta K. Nagel

It would be interesting to find out what goes on in that moment when someone looks at you and draws all sorts of conclusions. - Malcolm Gladwell

The most difficult thing is to love oneself but unless we do that we can't love others. - Vishal Bhardwaj

The best time to plant an oak tree is 25 years ago. The second best time is today. - James Carville

Never underestimate the capacity of another human being to have exactly the same shortcomings you have. - Leigh Steinberg

 A happy family is but an earlier heaven. - Sir John Bowring

If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time. - Shimon Peres

I you do not know history, you don't know anything. You're a leaf that doesn't know it's part of a tree. - Michael Cruchton

Timeless Wisdom

Some timeless wisdom. Some of them are also Chinese proverbs.

* To attract good fortune, spend a new penny on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing his name on the wings of a dragon.

* He who cannot control agree with his enemies is controlled by them.

* Behind every able man, there are always other able men.

* To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.

* Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.

* If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it.

* He who strikes the first blow admits he's lost the argument.

* He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

* Don't open a shop unless you like to smile.

* Be the first to the field and the last to the couch.

* A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials.

* A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers.

* When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planed them.

* There are two perfectly good men, one dead, and the other unborn.

* If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.

* If you get up one more time than you fall, you will make it through.

* A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections.

* One joy shatters a thousand grieves.

* Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.

* Distance tests a horse's strength. Time reveals a person's character.

Some Chinese Proverbs

Some Chinese proverbs from my collection of odds and ends in one of my scrap books.

A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom.

A single conversation with a wise man is worth a month's of study of books.

The one who pursues revenge should dig two graves.

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

The journey is the reward.

In the midst of great joy, do not promise anyone anything. In the midst of great anger, do not answer anyone's letter.

Beauty is the wisdom of women. Wisdom is the beauty of men.

Quarrelling is like cutting water with a sword.

Respect for one's parents is the highest duty of civil life.

Insanity is doing the same thing in the same way and expecting a different outcome.

He who is not satisfied with himself will grow; he who is not sure of his own correctness will learn many things.

If a man fools me once, shame on him. If he fools me twice shame on me.

A clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all.

He who could foresee affairs three days in advance would be rich for thousands of years.

Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.

When a man is crazy about a woman, only she can cure him.

If you bow at all, bow low.