The long break

Well, this was long due, but after my PhD graduation, I was finally entitled for a nice long break. It happened at the end of September in 2017. After my graduation, Aritya and I flew back to Malaysia and spent over a month in Malaysia. During our break, we even went to Jakarta, Indonesia with my parents. It was a pleasant holiday spent in the busy Jakarta City and a day out to the Bogor Safari park. The safari park trip was very enjoyable because we could see and feed some animals up close. Aritya and my parents enjoyed it too. It was a great treat for my dad as he loves animals. It was particularly interesting for me because part of the safari was built on a Hindu temple ruin. It was mesmerizing to see the white tigers resting on some old ruins, and to see hippos walk across the watery road up close. It was such an enjoyable trip. The food was amazing too. It was nice to see Indonesia, a country with vast Muslim population preserving their historic Hinduism culture. 

Then, back at Malaysia, Aritya and I took long trip by train to the north of Malaysia to visit Satya's brother and kids. I planned the trip because Aritya loves train rides and it was a good opportunity to see the countryside while relaxing on the train.

We tasted some good Malaysian delicacies and we had so much fun with our families. Aritya was very friendly to all and he made the break very pleasant. I also celebrated my birthday in Malaysia after a long time. My nephew Roshan went all out to make the birthday cake as surprise as possible. 

Apart from that, I also got my nose pierced and I cut my hair short. It was done as a celebration for PhD accomplishment.

Overall, it was a well-deserved nice break!

I am always with you, as long as you remember me

I just watched Pixar's Coco a few days back. It was a great movie about how we remember people after their demise. Our memory keeps them alive, and the final death occurs when we stop remembering them. Here, I would like to talk about the common folks' practice to keep the memory of the death going. For instance, all souls day and the day of the dead are acknowledged by most cultures. Brought up in a christian family, we observe the day too. But as I grew, I started questioning some practices and now that I....eerrmm...don't believe as I used to be, I start to recollect the origin of these practices. In the Hindu culture, the day before Diwali, prayers were offered to the dead and the ancestors. The same practice was implemented by the Chinese too. Although the method of practicing has much been commercialized, but the ultimate motive is as simple as remembering the dead, or to keep their memory alive. I may not practice the days in the future just as how my mom practiced it, with prayers and offerings. Instead, I am now thinking that I will observe the day in the future with a logical explanation. It will be a day to remember the dead, to reminisce on our days with them and to keep them alive in our memory. Most of the practices originated with a significant purpose. Unfortunately, with time and different cultural and religious practices, the original motive were diverted. 

The dead (memory) are always with us, as long as we remember them.

1000 days old

My son is 1000 days old today.
My panda kutty,
My puppy kutty,
My gundu pulu,
My pupply kutty.