Once upon a time....

Photo Courtesy of NBC

When the game started with Rogers and DalHausser against Araujo and Magalhaes, it seemed like the Brazilians were killing the US players. Every smash serve by Dalhausser initially was either blocked before it had it a chance to cross over the net and peek into the Brazilians' court or returned with equally violent fervor. This made rookie Olympain Dalhausser so nervous that he drove a few shots outside the court boundaries. Rogers and his teammate were not nimble enough to return the vehement and well-placed shots of their opponents. BUMMER! I was too sleepy at that point to finish watching this one-sided game, and I predicted that US had lost this gold medal. But, and that is a big BUT, this morning's news were pleasantly surprising. The game must have taken a turn right as I went to bed and U.S. eventually beat Brazil 2-1 to grab the gold medal! That's a good enough reason to be excited all day, isn't it?


P.S. this is an extract of my text written for a discussion board. Figured I would copy-paste it here since I haven't written anything in a while.


Photo Courtesy of National Geographic

Maybe I need to do my part before I expect anything from anyone else. Expectation without perspiration is always a cause of grief. Dang it! Just remembered to pay off a bill that's going to charge me $100 in late fees - purrfect ughh!!!

The Audichya Brahmins have a number of ‘Gotras’. The ‘Gotras’ are Vatsa, Bhargava, Dalabhya, Dron, Maunas, Gangayan, Sankratrutya, Sankruit, Panlastya, Mandakya, Shaunak, Bhardwaj, Kaudinya, Artio,Krushnatri, Swetatri, Chandratri, Gautam, Kutsas, Anfiras, Vashishtha, Upmanu, Udvah-Audvah, Parashas, Laugashi, Kashyap, Shandilya, Gabhil, Pipplad, Udalak, Audalals, Garga, Kaushik, and Hirnyagarbha. There are more than sixty different ‘ataks’ (Surnames) among the Audichaya Brahmans. These atak names which are used as surnames are based on their profession and field of proficiency. The most common among them are Dave, Pandya, Thaker, Upadhhyaya, Trivedi, Jani , Pandit, Acharya, Raval, Joshi etc. Earlier there were only 16 Surnames but in course of time the number went upto 60. The Brahmans who studied and taught the Vedas to other Brahmans were known as Acharya. The Brahmans who study and teach the Vedas in different regions come to be known as Upadhyayas are also referred to as Ozas, Pundits, Pathaks and Pandas. The Brahmans serving Rajput Kings at the marriages of princes and princesses were call Purohits irrespective of their original surnames. Brahmans residing in Panchal Pradesh were called ‘Pancholi’ while those who were well versed in Astrology are known as Joshis. Thakar Brahmans were those who gave up their original vocation to manage their villages. The Brahmans who possessed the knowledge of all the four Vedas were known as Chaturvedis, those who possessing the knowledge of three Vedas become Trivedis or Tripathis and those familier only with two Vedas are called Dwivedi and Dave. The Brahmans doing clerical work were called Mehtas and those who were experts in making preparations of Yagna were called Yagnik. The Brahmans possessing knowledge of the Vedas were called Vyas. One can understand that the community self perception of its status is on a pride in occupying the biggest position in the varna hierarchy.

Yes, we all do. I don't know if we have seven people in the world who can be our imposters, but there is definitely someone somewhere that can look just like you! Just look at the child model in this video. Everyone in my family who has seen this video says she looks like me when I was little. That makes me happy :P

People change. All the time. So do I. I know that is how it is supposed to be, and yet I want to restrict changes, hold on tightly to the past and go back to what I was like four-five years back. The ironies of life are confounding.