Our Wedding Anniversary – 2014.

Srilekha,

9th May 2014.

By God’s grace another happy event in the family, our 35th Wedding Anniversary Celebration, which all of us… our family enjoyed. Thank You GOD for keeping us safe, healthy and happy. May your blessings be with us always.

Here are photographs… sweet life memories! from the event. The photographs echo our happiness so I do not wish to say much about the Celebration but for a delightful fact that the Cake you see in the pictures is a delicious Rich Chocolate Orange Cake! Which everyone relished and it was the best among a good dinner spread.

Thanks Everyone!

The Love of a Family is life’s greatest Blessing!

- Lalitha & Raghu.

Doctor, Thank you for saving my wife…

Twenty-five years ago, on this day, that is on 7th May 1989, my wife underwent major life-saving surgery. This article is to once again express our gratitude to the Surgeon, Dr Amaravadi Prabhakar Chary, his team, and Aditya Hospital for saving her life.

This surgical complication developed all of a sudden as we were going through very happy times. Our 10th Wedding Anniversary was two days ahead on 9th May 1989. We made all the arrangements to celebrate the event with family, friends, and relatives at our house. All the invitations were extended, cooks engaged, sweets ordered, gifts for the guests procured, and so on; everything was fully planned and arranged. On 6th May, late in the evening, we went to the house of a friend, the last of the invitees, to extend our invitation. And on our way back, we went to Chermas – a Readymade Garment Outlet on MG Road, Secunderabad, for some last-minute shopping for our children and returned home a little after 10 PM. Because of the snacks at the friend’s house, we had a light dinner and as I was watching TV my wife went to sleep. Sometime later she developed pain in the stomach, and when it became unbearable, she informed me about it a little after midnight. I went to our family doctor, Dr G. Sampath, who stays very close to our house, and brought him to see her. He administered an injection and said that in case the pain does not subside, I may call him again. And he advised that she may consult her lady doctor the next morning. The rest of the night she had some relief, and in the morning, we went to see the lady doctor, who said that the problem might be because of having had mango the previous evening and prescribed some medicines.

An hour after we returned home, her pain aggravated. She did not complain, thinking that the medicines she had just taken would soon relieve the pain. In the meantime, my brother, Dr Lakshminarsu, a Dental Surgeon, came home for lunch, and on seeing her, he said that her condition was not good as she had become very pale and was clenching her fists out of pain. He said that we should immediately rush her to Dr Amaravadi Prabhakar Chary, a renowned doctor and surgeon, and a relative of ours. Those were not the days of Cell phones; we called his residence landline and came to know that he is at Aditya Hospital, Boggulakunta, Hyderabad. We then contacted him over Pager and phone about my wife’s condition and requested him to wait for us. Being a Sunday afternoon and as all establishments were closed due to Ramzan Eid that day, there was hardly any traffic on the roads, and I could drive with no delays and reach the Nursing Home by 2 PM. My sister-in-law accompanied us. My mother and brother stayed back at home to take care of the children, my brother’s two sons, and my two sons, aged 5 and 3 years...

Immediately upon reaching the Hospital, the doctor found that her stomach was bloated due to internal bleeding and that she had lost a lot of blood, and that her condition was serious and rapidly deteriorating. I am told that despite her condition being critical and her Blood Pressure very low, the doctor insisted and convinced the anaesthetist and the operating theatre team to go along with him for the surgery, as it was the only recourse to save her. The situation was very serious. I was asked to immediately procure three bottles of blood from any blood bank, and I went out on that task. And as the surgery commenced, the doctor summoned my brother, Dr Lakshminarsu, to come to the hospital. My brother was taken into the Operation Theatre to explain my wife’s condition. My brother stayed in for a few minutes and was shocked to see the amount of bleeding and the mopping being done for cleaning. The cause of the bleeding was an Ovarian Cyst.

The surgery and blood transfusion lasted for well over four hours, and it was 10 PM by the time my wife regained consciousness from anaesthesia. The surgeon stayed back until such time. He told us that she was alright and advised the hospital staff to cautiously monitor her condition due to the transfusion of new blood and to see how she would react to the surgery, and asked them to call him in case of any complications. By the grace of GOD and the doctor, there was no complication whatsoever. The next day, 8th May morning, she was normal, though very weak.

On 8th May, I called up all my relatives and friends to tell them about my wife’s surgery and the cancellation of our Wedding Anniversary Party. I also cancelled all other arrangements for the Party except for the sweets.

And the next day, 9th May 1989, Aditya Hospital became the place of our Anniversary celebration with flower bouquets decorating our room. All the invitees of our (cancelled) Party came there to inquire about my wife’s condition and wish her a speedy recovery with flower bouquets and gifts, and wish us a Happy Wedding Anniversary. And from our side, there were sweets to offer them and the hospital staff. They were all thrilled to see us happy and our celebration.

Once again, thank you, GOD. And thank you, Dr Amaravadi Prabhakar Chary, other doctors, and staff of Aditya Hospital, for saving a life so dear and precious to us. We will always remember you for your excellent service.

May GOD bless this excellent team richly. 

The person with grey hair is Dr. Prabhakar Chary.

World Laughter Day - 2014.

World Laughter Day 2014 was celebrated yesterday, 4th May. World Laughter Day is being celebrated on the first Sunday of May, every year. However the first celebration was on 11th January 1998, in Mumbai, and was organised by the founder of the worldwide Laughter Yoga movement, Dr. Madan Kataria.

Laughter Yoga says: Laughter is a positive and powerful emotion that has all the ingredients required for individuals to master themselves and to change the world in a tubular way. The day is now celebrated worldwide. The celebration of World Laughter Day is meant to be a positive manifestation for world peace and to build up a global consciousness of brotherhood and friendship through laughter. Its popularity has grown exponentially with that of the Laughter Yoga movement, which is now counting over 6000 Laughter Clubs worldwide, in all five continents.

It is being said that "laughter" is physical in nature, and does not necessarily involve humour or comedy. Laughter is easily stimulated in a group when combined with eye contact, childlike playfulness and laughter exercises. Fake laughter quickly becomes real. Laughter Yoga brings more oxygen to the body and brain by incorporating yogic breathing which results in deep diaphragmatic breathing. Laughter Yoga is based on the concept that the body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter - physiologically and psychologically the benefits are identical.

This blog post is in appreciation of this world event and the attached photographs… full of smiles; are some I could easily and quickly pick up and post, to amuse you and spread smiles and the importance of laughter, natural or even artificial!

Remembering Actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993), from my School Days.

Today’s pink Google doodle of Audrey Hepburn reminds me of this great actress and her movies, especially “My Fair Lady”, which I have seen many times… the first time, our School took us to the movie. Not just our Class but most of the students of our School, whose strength at that time was around 3600, in batches. And I remember it happened with most Schools in the Twin Cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. And thereafter I saw most of her popular movies like Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, War and Peace, Wait until dark, Sabrina, Funny Face, Charade, Robin and Marian, Two for the road, as far as I can remember now.

Audrey Hepburn was the movie's best-loved star, blessed with beauty, talent, elegant sophistication, and an enduring aura of youthful innocence. And as Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, she spoke for the world’s suffering children and families, earning affection and admiration that only increased with news of her untimely death.

Here are two video clippings from this memorable and evergreen movie “My Fair Lady”, the first video shows her as a flower girl speaking English in a crude accent and the second video shows her as a highly sophisticated lady, with another great actor Sir Rex Harrison. After seeing these videos, I am sure; you… the younger generation too would begin to admire her:

Long Live World Press Freedom – But May India’s Dirty and Biased News Media End.

Today is World Press Freedom Day. World Press Freedom Day is observed annually on 3rd May to remind countries and people all around the world, that freedom of the press and freedom of speech and expression are fundamental human rights. Yes it is a day to celebrate and strive for Press Freedom and freedom of speech and expression around the world. Everyone loves freedom and would certainly appreciate and support this movement. But what do we do with an irresponsible, dirty and biased media. It is out of frustration I wrote this verse about the majority of Indian News Media:

I Hate India’s Biased News Media.

Silence kills democracy,

And a free press talks,

And keeps democracy healthy!

But the dirty biased media,

Run by characterless owners,

Or controlled by greedy politicians,

And covered by corrupt rascals,

For purely personal interests,

Does no good to our society,

It is disservice to the majority,

To our Nation,

And our democracy.

It is unfortunate,

Today everywhere in India,

In print and electronic media,

Very few stand for ethics,

And the rest show and report,

Mostly contempt and untruths,

Just for their benefit.

This is not good for our country,

And our democracy.

- N. Raghu.

We enjoy shopping for fruits, vegetables and curios along NH7, close to Hyderabad.

We enjoy shopping for fruits, vegetables and curios along NH7; close to Hyderabad, as often as possible. It is a drive away from the hustle and bustle of the city and a different shopping experience of fresh produce direct from the farmers in most cases and artisans at reasonable prices. But before I say any further on this shopping let me explain about this very important Highway in India.

National Highway-NH7 is India’s longest highway starting from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and ending at Cape Comorin; the southernmost tip of India in Kanyakumari, Tamilnadu. It passes through Hyderabad from a distance of less than 500 mtrs from our house in Secunderabad.   This very important National Highway connecting North and South India is 2,369 kms long (1,472 miles), passing through seven  States - Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and through major cities and towns that is Varanasi, Rewa, Jabalpur, Nagpur, Adilabad, Nirmal, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Kurnool, Anantapur, Chikkaballapur, Bangalore, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Namakkal, Velur, Karur, Aravakurichi, Dindigul, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Kovilpatti, Tirunelveli and Cape Comorin/Kanyakumari. Another important International Highway, the Asian Highway AH43 which is 3,024 kms long (1,879 miles), connecting the city of Agra in UP to various cities in Sri Lanka via Palk Strait up to Matara, shares a large route of National Highway 7 that is from Nagpur and Hyderabad up to Bangalore.

For a hassle-free and enjoyable drive and shopping on this Highway we have to reach NH7 at Paradise Crossroads and travel Northwards via Bowenpally towards Medchal Town on this Hyderabad-Nagpur section of NH7. And as you cross the city limits, you will find a number of roadside shops in groups; on either side of the Highway selling seasonal fruits, vegetables and a variety of curios and nurseries. Like us you will find many people attracted to the merchandise on this Highway. At whatever speed they may be cruising and however hard pressed they are to reach their destination they stop by these shops and buy items at will for themselves and to share with friends and neighbors.

The attached photographs are from one such very recent shopping experience on this Highway. Being summer you can see that most items on sale are seasonal. You can see Lalitha purchasing Mangoes, Raw Mangoes, Watermelon, Snake Cucumber, Carrots and Palmyra Palm Fruits. Apart from these you will see many other fruits and vegetables on sale. You will find earthenware, porcelain, terracotta decorative items glazed and unglazed, plastic containers and colourful plastic flowers and many more items. Another interesting sale you will find is Coconut shops also selling Caps! This is to quench the thirst of travellers and help those on two-wheelers to protect themselves from scorching Sun! Or Vice versa!

This highway experience is something to be tried and enjoyed at least once; or repeatedly if interest lasts and time permits, not just on this highway but any such highway.

Go Hyderabad, Go Telangana, Go and Vote! For a better future and a better Nation!

Today is a very special day, have been anxiously waiting for it since a long time... it is Election Day! in soon to be formed Telangana State. Here, the elections are for both the State Assembly (Vidan Sabha) and Lok Sabha. We casted our Votes in the morning by 8:30 a.m., and then we had a celebratory sumptuous buffet breakfast at The Park and returned home just now. My eldest son Srikanth arrived early in the morning from Bangalore to cast his Vote. And my youngest son Srinath, who is in Birmingham-UK, has been canvassing over facebook and twitter for a political Party of his choice, mainly because his close friend’s father belongs to that Party and is contesting in this election.

Though the number of candidates contesting in our Sanathnagar Assembly Constituency and Secunderabad Parliamentary Constituency is rather huge, 22 and 30 respectively, it was easy for us to narrow down to few candidates and then vote for the best. Hope they win and serve us well.

Polling booths across Telangana will close at 6:00 p.m., so if you have not yet cast your vote, please decide fast and wisely, and cast your vote without fail.

P.S. Proud to be an Indian, proud to Vote and celebrate Democracy today!