It seems there was some jhol at the temple in Parma, Ohio...which is the local temple for the akron-cleveland area.......its been a while since I went up there.....nor do i get an mailers from them......so how did I get this news....hmm funny story.......as i was getting out of the restroom yesterday...one of my co-workers comes up to me and says....." Did you hear about the problem at the Hindu Church up in Parma"...for a moment I failed to understand what he was saying....then he looks at me and re phrases and says..." There was a problem at the Hindu mosque and the sheek (sheikh) was out on the lawn with a bandage over his head"......the puzzled look on my face continued to be there thats when he asked me what Hindu's call our place of worship.....finally main samjha......

he being ignorant about the what we call our places of worship or our priests is not the point here...its just that I keep reading in the so called 'Indian' newspapers here about problems in different temples across the US where there is some tussle going on between the trustess over management issues.........shouldn't they know better and maintain the sanctity of these places rather than have these turf battles.....everywhere I look around I see that religon has become a very commercial issue.....money talks.......you need better darshan at Tirupati....you pay more and get ahead in the line.....and the best part...all this is official........the more I think about this the more it irritates me.....its one big turn off.....the more I try to believe in a GOD, the more I want to run away from all this and try and find my peace elsewhere.......I just keep getting one step closer to being an atheist....the agnostic path was taken a while back......

I think I am better off repeating the Jedi mantra.." May the force be with you"......atleast I lve with the hope that some day I will have my Lightsaber:)

The brother from NJ has been around for more than a week now........its been good havin him aorund........the brothers wife was over for thr weekend....mom dad...the two of them and yours truly made a day trip to columbus....mast mein bada van rent kiya......was good fun........the whole time that the brother has been there....he took all my cd's and ripped the songs into mp3's for himself.....and I have to admit...ekdam sweet hain voh....usne apan ke liye bhi dvd pe sab write karke diya....finally the DVD writer has been put to some use.......and he went crazy getting stuff of suprnova.......so all the stuff that he got...he made copies for me too.......my music collection seems so much better now....and i dont fear losing any cd....sab ka backup hain apne pass.....

apna cleveland ka browns are ekdam like the indian cricket team...they flatter to decieve.....one week there is the awesome 20-3 win against the baltimore ravens and then this week the stoooooopid loss against the dallas cowboys.....but monday night footbal this week seems like a killer......eagles vs the vikings......

this week has not yet started and am already lookin forward to the comin weekend......parents are gonna be in NJ this week starting tomorrow and then i join the whole junta on friday for the weekend......

for the time being i have to be content with an earlier than usual Monday mornin....sleep beckons......nitey nite

Saturday night....strong coffee......bidya......good friend(s)..and enlightening conversations......at the gas station (not a necessary ingredient)....can be as enjoyable if not more as those spent in Brubakers or BW3 over Michelob Ultra's and rock music and good friend(s) and non stop stooooopid badbad......

though a healthy balance of both is required....maybe 3:1.....in favor of the latter:)...some things never change na......

So the parents are here and seem to have settled well.....the long weekend was pretty ok......spent with some family and friends in Michigan.....from what I have figured out over the last one week......they notice a change in me....and they seem to be accpeting it pretty decently......to me they are just the same.....though physically ....they grey hair is more prominent.....and the mother has lost quite a bit of weight.....

They have been meeting a lot of people here (many for the first time).....some akron junta that was around during their trip here in 2002 is still there.....but they did come and meet the junta here at work.....and most of the junta who has met them for the first time has pretty much the same thing to say..." Your parents seem so nice and quiet and sober...your mom is so pretty and your dad looks so dignified"......(and then after a pause)....." What the hell happened to you".......which is a fact.........we think differently.......our approach to life is very different.....and I dont think I look like either one of them......and on top of that...the balding plate does not help at all........maybe...just maybe....there wasa switch in the hospital...and he fact that I look like mymaternal uncle is purely coincidental......that would explain a lot of things:)

Some other observations/complaints that Mom has......" You smoke too much Hemant!!!!"......" You eat meat quite often"........" You should not be drinking on weeknights".......and how do I plead....GUILTY on all three counts......:)

In other news......its one year today that I have been working at my present job....and I'm lovin' it.....plus the brother from jersey got a job today....in philly.....seems like a good day......