Thursday, August 30, 2007

I, Like You.....Am Human.

"Accept me as I am-I have no guarantee.
A claim to perfection I have not.
Perfect I cannot be. I, like you.....am human.

Prone to make mistakes.
Failure is not a character flaw,
Just a part of the human makeup.

I live, I laugh and I also learn.
My knowledge is incomplete.
I am searching all the time,
in waking hours as well as in sleep.

I have a long road to travel, as well as you do.
We learn our lessons on the way.
Wisdom we shall accrue.

Accept me as I am Because I am ....me.
And You are you.
No one like me in the world.
That is my only guarantee.

******************************************

Accept Me
I am I
Do not change me
Nor put me down

Accept me for what I am
NO.... you need not agree with me
But accept me
For I am total in being

I have my faults
I have my gifts
But that is who I am

Perfect I will never be
Allow me to be uninhibited
Do not pressure me into feeling

what I do not feel
Accept me when I am flying high
As I have accepted you when
You were flying high

Do not put me down...nor make
me feel unhappy about me
I am I
And I like being what I am"

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Good Morning


Dear Children,

Be gentle with yourself. All is well. There is no need to strive to "do better." Only LOVE yourself and therefore demonstrate RESPECT for every aspect of your being. As you do this, so you will become stronger and more radiant in the LIGHT that shines forth from your being. Let the beauty we love be what we do!

With Love, Amma-Naana

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Good Morning


Dear Children, Good Morning.

Life is Flowing…
Moment to moment…
Flow with it,
And be sheltered from the hassles
Of time and space.

Life is full of Power…
Live it…
From breath…
To breath!

With Love, Amma-Naana

Monday, August 27, 2007

Happy Raksha Bandhan


A Brother is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. Thank you for being our brother....

Heritage Festival ... Pictures With Friends...




Sunday, August 26, 2007

Always Remember...


Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But don't forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

Always remember to forget
The troubles that have passed away.
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.

Friday, August 24, 2007

ACLALS 2007- Mr. Ajmer Rode



M.A.Sc. (Engg.), University of Waterloo, 1967; Immigrated to Canada from India in 1966. Married to writer Surjeet Kalsey. Living in Burnaby, BC, with daughter Surti and son Ankurneel.

Ajmer Rode writes in English and Punjabi and has published books of poetry, plays non-fiction and translations.

He has been an active member of The Writers Union of Canada and Vancouver Punjabi Writers Forum and is a founding member of several Indo Canadian literary and performing arts associations in Vancouver where he currently lives.

His latest book Leela co-authored with Navtej Bharati is more than 1000 pages long and is being translated into English.

Poems At My Doorstep is one of his poetry books in English.

ACLALS 2007 - Surjeet Singh Kalsey


Surjeet Singh Kalsey was born in India in 1944. She relocated to Canada in 1974, and currently lives in British Columbia.

Kalsey is a poet and short story writer, editor, translator, and counselor. With most of her writings appearing in Indian and Canadian publications, readers can easily venture out and explore the diversity of Surjeet Kalsey's works.

She received a Master's Degree in English and Punjabi Literature from Punjab University, Chandigarh, and a Master's in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia.

She has edited and translated books and poetry. One translation appears in the Punjabi issue of Contemporary Literature in Translation (1977). Surjeet has also edited and translated an anthology of poetry, Glimpses of Twentieth Century Punjabi Poetry (1992).

Kalsey's poems and short stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines. She has also written and directed plays on violence against women.

She has published books in both English and Punjabi – a book of poetry in Punjabi, Paunan Nal Guftagoo (1979); and Speaking to the Winds (1982) and Footprints in Silence (1988) in English. Surjeet has taught at the Vancouver Community College since 2001. She also works as a counselor for battered women and continues to write. Many of the works by Kalsey reflect women's issues in Indo-Canadian life. Violence against women and violence within the family are but a few of the issues that emerge in her plays, poetry, and short stories.

Although little has been written about Surjeet Kalsey, she delivers a powerful spirit in poems such as "Disowning Oneself," where she speaks of the struggle of women and their desire to be free. Tree and leaf analogies in Surjeet's poems describe emotions such as bliss and jealousy and portray the struggle of women.

Not only do Indo-Canadian women have to struggle within their own homes and communities for basic freedoms, but they also have to deal with racism. This comes across vividly in "Saffron Leaves," in which Kalsey talks about race relations and diversity.

Although Kalsey writes much about women disowning themselves and struggling in the world, she holds out hope.

"Visions" is a powerful poem about the strength and power of women to change much of what's wrong with the world, unlike "Selection," in which she speaks of the infanticide of female babies.

Surjeet Kalsey is a champion of women's and children's rights. The invitation has been extended and the door opened for readers to learn about Surjeet Kalsey's poems, short stories, and plays.

ACLALS 2007 - Dr. Alok Mukherjee..

"He's hard-working, he has integrity and he works well with people."

He is active in several community organizations including the South Asian Fellowship, the National Association of Canadians of Origins in India and South Asians Fighting Against Racism. Alok is frequently called upon to speak and write on human rights, employment equity and anti-racist education issues.

Alok Mukherjee is a consultant, trainer, researcher and writer in equity, human rights, organization change and organization development. As well, he teaches about South Asian culture and society at York University. Until recently, Dr. Mukherjee was the Vice Chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, the first South Asian to be elected to this position. Since mid-October 2005, he has been appointed as the Chair of this Board.


Among Dr. Mukherjee’s many publications are: Towards an Aesthetic of Dalit Literature: History, Controversies, Considerations (2004), Kaleidoscopic Organizations: Diversity and Inclusivity (2001), Employment Equity for Racially Visible and Aboriginal Peoples (1995), and Anti-Racist Education: Selected Readings and Resources (1993).

Dr. Mukherjee has held several public appointments, including:
· Member, the Toronto District School Board Safe and Compassionate School Taskforce,
· Member, Transitional Advisory Group to assist Toronto Mayor David Miller in assuming leadership of Canada’s fifth largest government,
· Member, Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services, and
· Vice Chair and Acting Chief Commissioner, Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Dr. Mukherjee plays an active role in the community. His volunteer activities have included:
· Chair, Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA), Toronto,
· Member, Board of Governors, Centennial College of Applied Arts and Technology, Scarborough,
· President, Indian Immigrant Aid Services, Toronto,
· Chair, Housing Sub-Committee, Social Issues Committee of the Children's Aid Society of Metro Toronto,
· Chair, Sub-Committee on Access to Services, City of Toronto Mayor's Committee on Community and Race Relations, and Member, Multiculturalism Committee, United Way of Greater Toronto.

For his leadership role, he has received the Ontario Volunteer Service Award (1996), the Molson New Pioneers Award for Leadership awarded by Skills for Change, Toronto (1996) and Commendation by the Mayor of Toronto (1987).

ACLALS 2007 - Dr. Arun Mukherjee...


Starting July 1, English professor Arun Mukherjee will be York's next University Advisor to the President on the Status of Women. Mukherjee succeeds professor of French studies Yvette Bénayoun-Szmidt, whose term ends June 30.

"In some ways I see my appointment as a milestone in my own struggles to work in the intersections of gender with all other forms of oppression, such as race, class, disability, age and sexual orientation," Mukherjee says. "I will be working for all women at York, while paying attention to the double and multiple barriers certain groups of women face because of these other aspects of their identity besides gender."

Mukherjee received her BA and MA from the University of Saugar in her native India. After completing a second MA (because her Indian credentials were not recognized by the University of Toronto) and a PhD in English at the University of Toronto, she taught first at the University of Regina and then the University of Western Ontario before joining York in 1985.

"My aim is not to be faculty-centric but to represent the concerns of all the women of the York community," she adds. The start of Mukherjee's term as Advisor coincides with the starting date of incoming President Lorna Marsden. Although the two haven't yet met, Mukherjee says she is looking forward to meeting with the new president.

Mukherjee "brings to the position of Advisor her dedication to women at York, and her experience in addressing concerns around race in the women's movement. As a scholar and researcher, she has focused on curricular issues related to women, both as part of women's studies and more generally. As well, she focused on employment equity and fair hiring practices," says York President Susan Mann.

"As Advisor, professor Mukherjee will bring her expertise and commitment to the many issues still confronting women in universities. I thank her for agreeing to take on this task and thereby continue York's progress in this area.

"I've been concerned with women's issues since the early 1980s," Mukherjee says. "I read The Women's Room [Summit Books, 1977] by Marilyn French. It was the beginning of consciousness for many women of my age group. I designed a course at the University of Regina around women's lives called "Marriage in English Literature," to think about women's roles in marriage and how literature portrayed these roles. It was the beginning for me to think about these issues."

Mukherjee says she began to educate herself with early feminist classics like Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch (Flamingo, 1970) and Kate Millett's Sexual Politics (Simon & Schuster, 1990). While they awakened her feminist consciousness, she says the feminist movement provided a different kind of awakening for women of colour because the women's movement in the 1980s was dominated by white, middle-class women. "Books like Bell Hooks' Ain't I a woman: black women and feminism (South End Press, 1981) and Angela's Davis' Women, Race And Class (Random House, 1981) were very important in my education," she says.

"White feminists who were preeminent in the second wave movement weren't aware of their racial privilege... Their analysis was that women have been oppressed around the world and can join together in sisterhood," Mukherjee says. "Because they didn't understand their racial privilege, they were oblivious to racism in the society and the particular barriers women of colour suffer from.

"As a result of the interventions by women of colour, many women in the university setting began to feel that the women's movement would go nowhere if it did not seriously respond to women's diversity. Many women of colour, including myself, felt that women studies courses were not responding to our identity, our needs, our oppressions because reading lists were dominated by white writers and theorists. We began to contest that and demand that feminist theory become more diverse and women's studies courses [diversify], too. A lot of my work in that area has been to make people aware of the issues around racism in literature," she adds.

Mukherjee has analyzed the works of canonical women writers such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin. "Those writers in the mid-'80s were being taught in practically all women's studies courses as foremothers newly discovered. My work was to say they were problematic because they were racist. We couldn't teach them or think about them as speaking to all women."

Some white feminists became defensive when they were criticized for ignoring issues that affect women of colour, Mukherjee says. "Nobody likes being called names. Some took it very personally. They didn't think they were consciously racist." Others were more open to the concept of inclusivity. Today attitudes have changed as many women have come to understand the importance of racial, sexual and class diversity to the feminist movement, she adds.

Mukherjee says the fact that the National Action Committee on the Status of Women's past President, Sunera Thobani, and current President, Joan Grant-Cummings, are both women of colour helped bring attention to this issue, but "there is more to do."

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Greetings from Somayya Kasani, Edmonton


We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness, which no one else can make for us, which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to view the world.
~Marcel Proust



Dear Shri & Smt. Prakash Rao D S Garu,

I came back home, Edmonton after attending the 14th Triennial Conference of the Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies. Even though I returned home from ACLALS- Vancouver, My thoughts are still going around the place and people I came across for a week. It is really nice to recollect them. This evening we are associating some people in Sherwood Park and tomorrow we do have a nice picnic.

“Literature for our Times” has touched a nerve in the issues of concern to various communities and their histories. It has also ensured that voices of those who are not in the mainstream of society would find expression through the work of this Association.

ACLALS conferences have always offered a feast of new and challenging ideas, and our six-day program provided a most stimulating experience for the delegates. Noble laureate Derek Walcott gave the Opening Reading on August 17, 2007.

We now think of culture as a process rather than as a stable fixed structure, and of cultures as always already interacting with other cultures, their hybrid self – transforming margins as ‘ authentic’ as their centers.

Given the speed of globalization and the tensions it is generating, the need for genuine dialogue between cultures and languages on the basis of quality and mutual respect has never been greater.” - Ngugi Wa Thiong’o

More in my next e-mail,
With Regards, Somayya Kasani

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Wednesday Greetings From UBC & How to Succeed - a Plan


Dear all, Good Morning.

Today is the last day of our Conference. Just now we came back to the lounge for a Tea-break. We have some computers here. I came here just to check my e-mails.

Here is something from what I read today, More in my next e-mail, With love, Naana

1) Gossip: Don't talk negatively about people behind their backs. If you gossip, people won't confide in you. Mind your own business.

2) Try to work for someone who'll challenge your powers. You'll learn more in a year than 4 years of college.

3) Successful managers have good communication skills. They learn from people, including their employees.

4) Work in such a way that makes your manager look good. It's not flattery.

5) On downsizing, the first to go are those with a few friends. Managers prefer competent people whom they respect.

6) Dress for the job you want, not the one you have. Let your dress reflect professionalism.

7) Workout to get in good physical shape. Unless exceptionally skilled, the unhealthy are at a comparative disadvantage.

8) Personal integrity is crucial. Tell nothing but the truth. Bosses can forgive mistakes, but if you lie, you're gone.

9) Be on time. Try to arrive few minutes early. It saves you from stress. You'll be much relaxed & work better.

10) Strive your best to keep a deadline. If you cannot meet it, then apologize & ask for an extension.

11) If some people are unhappy with you, it's their problem. But always strive to give your best.

12) If you must correct someone, don't get personal about it. Do it never in front of others.

13) Spend some time alone everyday. What's the mission of my life? What do I want to be? And how to go about it.

14) As you move along Plan A of your career, maintain a Plan B as well an alternative course to rely.

15) Always remember that the secret of success is passion. Always think big. Spread love & joy. You'll have blissful years ahead.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Tuesday Greetings From UBC...


Dear Chinnakonda, Good evening.

Thank you for updating our Journal time to time. Satyam's presentation went well. Really the whole session was unique. Adopted new techniques of presentation. “Chetana Samithi of Canada” gave us the moral boost by participating in the conference with their short play on "Rebirth of Gandhi ". It was quite exciting. Photo exhibition was also interesting. Ngugi's Keynote address was wonderful.

Note: Last night we spoke with Mr. Ashok Kumbam and shared the news from our side.

More in my next e-mail.

With Love, Naana

Monday, August 20, 2007

Monday Greetings From UBC...


Dear all lovely people,

I am doing well here. I enjoyed four days here in the company of people from different countries. I could witness the beauty of the multicultural globe, here.

Still two more days have left for us to be here together to share our feelings and experiences with each other. Right now I am waiting for Satyam. Together we will go to Arun Mukherjee' residence.

More in my next e-mail, Naana

~Happiness is not something we find, it's something we create..

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Ngugi wa Thiong'o (1938) - Formerly known as James Ngugi...

ACLALS Conference : Day Five: August 21, 2007 Tuesday9:00 – 10:30 Keynote Speaker: Ngugi wa Thiong’o, “A Multi-Centred Globe: Translation as the Language of Languages” Chair and Respondent: Handel Kashope Wright (Woodward IRC)


Kenyan teacher, novelist, essayist, and playwright, whose works function as an important link between the pioneers of African writing and the younger generation of postcolonial writers. After imprisonment in 1978, Ngugi abandoned using English as the primary language of his work in favor of Gikuyu, his native tongue. The transition from colonialism to postcoloniality and the crisis of modernity has been a central issues in a great deal of Ngugi's writings.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o was born in Kamiriithu, near Limuru, Kiambu District, as the fifth child of the third of his father's four wives. At that time Kenya was under British rule, which ended in 1963. Ngugi's family belonged to the Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Gikuyu. His father, Thiong'o wa Nducu, was a peasant farmer. Ngugi attended the mission-run school at Kamaandura in Limuru, Karinga school in Maanguu, and Alliance High School in Kikuyu. During these years Ngugi became a devout Christian. However, at school he also learned about the Gikuyu values and history and underwent the Gikuyu rite of passage ceremony. Later he rejected Christianity, and changed his original name in 1976 from James Ngugi, which he saw as a sign of colonialism, to Ngugi wa Thiong'o in honor of his Gikuyu heritage.

After receiving a B.A. in English at Makerere University College in Kampala (Uganda) in 1963, Ngugi worked briefly as a journalist in Nairobi. He married in 1961. Over the next seventeen years his wife, Nyambura, gave birth to six children. In 1962 Ngugi's play THE BLACK HERMIT was produced in Kampala. In 1964 he left for England to pursue graduate studies at the Leeds University in England.

The most prominent theme in Ngugi's early work was the conflict between the individual and the community. As a novelist Ngugi made his debut with WEEP NOT, CHILD (1964), which he started to write while he was at school in England. It was the first novel in English to be published by an East African author. Ngugi used the Bildungsroman form to tell the story of a young man, Njoroge. He loses his opportunity for further education when he is caught between idealistic dreams and the violent reality of the colonial exploitation. THE RIVER BETWEEN (1965) had as its background the Mau Mau Rebellion (1952-1956). The story was set in the late 1920s and 1930s and depicted an unhappy love affair in a rural community divided between Christian converts and non-Christians.

A GRAIN OF WHEAT (1967) marked Ngugi's break with cultural nationalism and his embracing of Fanonist Marxism. Ngugi refers in the title to the biblical theme of self-sacrifice, a part of the new birth: "unless a grain of wheat die." The allegorical story of one man's mistaken heroism and a search for the betrayer of a Mau Mau leader is set in a village, which has been destroyed in the war. The author's family was involved in the Mau Mau uprising. Ngugi's older brother had joined the movement, his stepbrother was killed, and his mother was arrested and tortured. Ngugi's village suffered in a campaign.

In the 1960s Ngugi was a reporter for the Nairobi Daily Nation and editor of Zuka from 1965 to 1970. He worked as a lecturer at several universities - at the University College in Nairobi (1967-69), at the Makerere University in Kampala (1969-70), and at the Northwestern University in Evanston in the United States (1970-71). Ngugi had resigned from his post at Nairobi University as a protest against government interference in the university, be he joined the faculty in 1973, becoming an associate professor and chairman of the department of literature. It had been formed in response to his and his colleagues' criticism of English - the British government had made in the 1950s instruction in English mandatory. Ngugi had asked in an article, written with Taban lo Liyong and Henry Owuor-Anyumba, "If there is need for a 'study of the historic continuity of a single culture', why can't this be African? Why can't African literature be at the centre so that we can view other cultures in relationship to it?" (from 'On the Abolition of the English Department', 1968) Acknowledging the influence of European literatures on African writing, Ngugi and his coauthors emphasized the importance of the oral tradition, Swahili literature, and the Caribbean novel and poetry.

"We have eyes, but we don't see. We have ears, but we don't hear.
We can read, but we don't understand what we read."

In 1976 Ngugi chaired the cultural committee of the Kamiriithu Community Edcational and Cultural Centre, a collective that a ran a public theatre. The government denied its permission for performances in 1982. At the end of December 1977 Daniel arap Moi, then vice-president, ordered Ngugi detained in Mamiti Maximum Security Prison. Ngugi was imprisoned under Public Security Act for a year without trial for his involvement with a communal theatre in his home village. Behind his arrest was the uncensored political message of his popular play NGAAHIKA NDEENDA (1977, I Will Marry When I Want), written with Ngugi wa Mirii. Moreover, Ngugi's novel PETALS OF BLOOD (1978) drew attention with its keen sense of contemporary political events. It reflected change in Ngugi's work from portraying the colonial era to focusing on exploit and corruption in present-day Kenya. The story dealt with an investigation of the murder of three representatives of the new society, who have profited from neocolonialism. Ngugi's short story 'Minutes of Glory' examined the backside of economic progress - the life of women who were teared off from their villages and doomed to work as prostitutes in cities.


After being released, Ngugi was not reinstated in his university post, and his family were subjected to frequent harassment. In 1980 Ngugi published the first modern novel written in Gikuyu, CAITAANI MUTHARA-INI (Devil on the Cross). He argued that literature written by Africans in a colonial language is not African literature, but "Afro-European literature." Writers must use their native languages to give the African literature its own genealogy and grammar.

Ngugi's prison diary DETAINED, written in English, appeared in 1981. He left Kenya in 1982 to live in self-imposed exile in London. In his book DECOLONISING THE MIND: THE POLITICS OF LANGUAGE IN AFRICAN LITERATURE (1986) Ngugi wrote that African writers should express themselves in indigenous languages in order to reach the African masses. Among Ngugi's most important works is MATIGARI (1987), in which the author builds his narrative on a famous Gikuyu folktale. In the satirical moral fable Martigari, a freedom fighter, emerges from the forest in the political dawn of post-independence Kenya. Searching for his family and a new future, he finds little has changed and vows to use force of arms to achieve his true liberation. According to a rumor, Matigari was taken seriously by Kenyan authorities as a revolutionary agitator plotting to overthrow the government, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Ngugi became in 1992 professor of comparative literature and performance studies at New York University, where he held the Erich Maria Remarque Chair. He has taught at the University of Bayreuth and the University of Auckland, New Zealand; and Yale, Smith, and at Amherst. In the 1990s, Ngugi published mostly non-fiction. Among his later novels is WIZARD OF THE CROW, set in the corrupted fictional Republic of Aburiria.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Greetings from University of British Columbia...



Dear our sweet people, Good evening.

I am enjoying my great trip to Vancouver. Today our Conference has started. We met with a few of the writers who came to participate in it. We, Satyam and I made a trip to the downtown in between and enjoyed the trip.

I shall close my e-mail, thanking you all for your care for us.
With Love, Naana

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Eye Care "20-20-20" ...

Step I :

After every 20 minutes of looking into the computer screen, turn your head and try to look at any object placed at least 20 feet away. This changes the focal length of your eyes, a must-do for the tired eyes.

Step II :

Try and blink your eyes for 20 times in succession, to moisten them.

Step III :

One should walk 20 paces after every 20 minutes of sitting in one particular posture. Helps blood circulation for the entire body.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

A Creed to Live By...

Dear Children,

Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others,
It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Don't set your goals by what other people deem important,
Only you know what is best for you.

Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart
Cling to that as you would your life, for without them life is meaningless.

Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.

Don't give up when you still have something to give

Nothing is really over … until the moment you stop trying.

Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect,
It is the fragile thread that binds us to each other.

Don't be afraid to encounter risks,

It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love.
The fastest way to lose love is to hold on too tightly,
And the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don't dismiss your Dreams. To be without dreams is to be without hope. To be without hope is to be without purpose.


Don't run through life so fast that you forget where you've been,
But also know where you're going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored every step of the way.

With Love, Amma-Naana

Monday, August 13, 2007

Greetings...


Dear Ashok and Sunitha, Good Morning.

How was your trip to Jasper?

Here is a happy and surprise news from my side: Mr. Pitamber Sharma and I are planning to attend the Conference at UBC. Mr. Sharma will attend it from his friend's home and I will stay at UBC Gage Towers itself.

We thought our this trip shall be not only for a Change but also it would be a sweet memory for 2007 Summer. We shall associate Mr. Satyanarayana during this Conference " Literature For Our Times" in Canada.


More details in person. Yours, Somayya Kasani

* మనం చేసే ప్రతి పనిలోనూ ఆనందం లేకపోవచ్చుకాని, ఏ పనీ చెయ్యకుండా మాత్రం మనం ఆనందం పొందలేం.
* కదలకుండా నిలిచిన వాడే ఎక్కువ అలసిపోతాడు.

*ఙ్ఞానం అమాంతంగా పొంగి పొర్లిపోదు, అది అంచెలంచెలుగ అభివృద్ధి చెందుతుంది.
* 20 ఏళ్ళ అనుభవం నేర్పే పాఠాలను ఏడాది గ్రంధ పఠనం నేర్పుతుంది.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Quotes Garden To Go Around!

Dear Children,

~Give yourself permission to be courageous. And avoid giving others permission to make you feel fearful. The key word here is “permission.”

~Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.

~If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.

~Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

~Making the simple complicated is commonplace, making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.

~A good plan implemented today is beter than a perfect plan implemented tomorrow.

With Love, Amma-Naana

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Best Wishes to Pranavi...


Dear all our sweet people,
We are fine here. Pranavi and Vasavi greeted us this morning. They are fine.

Today Pranavi is going to her place of Study. She has regular classes from August 20, 2007. About six pupils are planning to live together. Their residence is not too far from their University. However they will take city buses from their home to their University.

Pranavi is active and pleasant. She will get adjusted to the new environment very soon.

More in my next e-mail, dear all.

Have a nice weekend.
With Love, Amma - Naana

Note: Today there is opening function at Save on Foods, near our complex. Your dear Mom and I pay a visit to it, this afternoon.

The Story of Two Angels : Things Aren't Always What They Seem!

Dear Children,

Here it is ...

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement.

As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied... "Things aren't always what they seem".

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest.

When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel "how could you have let this happen!? The first man had everything, yet you helped him," he accused. "The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let their cow die."

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied. "When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem."

Sometimes this is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way they should. If you have faith, you just need to trust that every outcome is always to your advantage. You might not know it until some time later.

With Love, Amma-Naana

Friday, August 10, 2007

Good Evening


Dear all our Sweet People, Good Evening.

Akkaiah and our sweet Vikram Nana and Vinod took off from work today and and associated with us. Vikram and Vinod played with each other and all of us had a nice time together.

With Love, Amma - Naana
"The biggest Luxury of our times is to have time..."

May the sun bring us new energy by day,
May the moon softly restore us by night,
May the rain wash away our worries,
May the breeze blow new strength into our being,
May we walk gently through the world and
know its beauty all the days of your life.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Good Morning

Dear Children,

~Challenges make you discover things about yourself, you never really knew. They're what makes the instrument stretch; what make you go beyond the norm.

~Do not be afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.


With Love, Amma-Naana

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

మాట్లాడుకోవాలి : డా. బి.వి.ఆర్. ప్రసాదమూర్తి


మాట్లాడుకోవాలి
మెత్తగా బత్తాయి పండు తొనలువిప్పినట్టు
మనసువిప్పి మాట్లాడుకోవాలి

గుండెలోపలికి చేతులుపెట్టి బయటకుతీసిన మాటల్ని
షవర్ బాత్ చేయించి
ప్రెష్గా ఎదుటివాళ్ళముందుంచాలి

మాటలేకదా
అమ్మ నాన్న గురువు సంఘం
వీళ్ళంతా నీళ్ళుపోసి పెంచిన మాటలేకదా
అంతా చేయిపట్టుకునిలబెట్టిన మాటలే కదా
మాట్లాడితే

అందరికీ కృతజ్ఞతతో అభివాదం చేస్తున్నట్టుండాలి
అప్పుడే స్నానమాడిన రెండు తడిదేహాలు
తమకంగా కౌగిలించుకున్నట్టుండాలి
మాట్లాడితే

శుభ్రంగా మంచుకడిగిన నిలువెత్తు అరిటాకు మీద
ఆత్మీయులకోసం నిన్ను నువ్వు వొడ్డించుకున్నట్టుండాలి

మాటకు బొమ్మేకాని బొరుసులేదు
మాటకు వెలుగేకాని చీకటిలేదు
మనుషుల్లా మాట్లాడుకోవాలి

అందరిముందు నిన్ను నువ్వు గుమ్మరించేసుకొని
శున్యంగా చిద్విలాసించాలి

తొదుగుల్లేని మాటల్ని జేబుల్నినింపుకొని
గృహదేహాల నుండి బయటపడాలి
ఇంట్లోనైనా వీధిలోనైనా

ఆఫీసులోనైనా పార్లమెంటులోనైనా
ఫ్రేమకోసం స్నేహంకోసం
శాంతికోసం మాట్ట్లాడుకోవాలి

పంజరంలోనుండి పక్షిని వదిలివేసినట్టుండాలి
కొళాయితిప్పితే
నీ నుండి ఏమీ ఆసించని ఓ చిట్టిపాప
చటుక్కున నీ బుగ్గని ముద్దుపెట్టున్నట్టుండాలి
మాటలే కదా

మాటలంటే మనుషుల మనసులేకదా
దయచేసి
మాటని మర్కెట్ మేయొద్దు.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Edmonton Heritage Festival


Dance is a kinesthetic art form that involves sensory awareness, discipline, and creativity. Meaningful Work or Death. Any other form of existence doesn’t interest dedicated dancers. This combination comes a blend…of movement, sound, drama and above all else, feeling."

To become a true artist, one has to be flexible physically and mentally. You have to learn to think and dream and imagine without boundaries.

Dance! will be a colorful, exciting presentation of eclectic styles
.

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Literature For Our Times...ACLALS

Dear Children,

The 14th international Triennial Conference of ACLALS will be hosted by Canada and will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia from August 17 to 22, 2007. This conference, on the theme "Literature For Our Times", will address the role and function of literature in the twenty-first century through keynote speeches, paper presentations, panel discussions and literary readings.

With Love, Amma-Naana


Vancouver is the largest city in Western Canada, located at the southwestern corner of the province of British Columbia.

Vancouver is one of North America's most beautiful cities, and was recently ranked as " the world's most desirable place to live ".

Only 30 minutes from the heart of downtown Vancouver, the University of British Columbia holds an international reputation for excellence in advanced research and learning.

The spectacular UBC campus is a 'must-see' for any visitor to the city -- where snow-capped mountains meet ocean, and breathtaking vistas greet you around every corner.

The University of British Columbia, aspiring to be one of the world’s best universities, will prepare students to become exceptional global citizens, promote the values of a civil and sustainable society, and conduct outstanding research to serve the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world.

UBC Library is the second largest research library in Canada and includes 21 branches and divisions, on the UBC campus.

Jeannette Armstrong...

The vitality of thought is in adventure.
Ideas won't keep. Something must be done about them.

Jeannette Armstrong addresses on the day one on " Literature For our Times " at ACLALS ( The Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies ), 2007 Conference.

Jeannette Armstrong is an Okanagan Indian who was born in 1948 on the Penticton Indian Reserve in British Columbia.

Armstrong is a writer, teacher, artist, sculptor and activist. She speaks both Okanagan and English.

In 1978, she obtained a BFA from the University of Victoria. In 1986 Armstrong became the director of the En'owkin Centre in Penticton.

She is also the first director of the En'owkin International School of Writing in Penticton, a creative-writing school organized by and for Native people which grants diplomas through the University of Victoria.

Armstrong writes poetry, fiction, essays and children's literature.

She also continues to make visual art and teaches creative writing and performance.

The importance of music and poetry is reflected in the recent production of her poem "Grandmothers" on the compact disk Word Up!

She has been invited to speak to numerous international audiences on native issues including native education and indigenous rights.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Asian Times...

Dear all, Good Evening.

Today I associated with Asian Times, Editor - In -Chief: Dr. Prithivi Raj Kalia at his office for an half an hour. Asian Times is a free Monthly Magazine and is in place since 1998. It’s multilingual coverage mirrors day-to-day socio-political and literary activities of communities at large. Their website is: http://www.asiantimes.ca/. We planned to meet again on August 8, 2007.

More in my next e-mail,
With Love, Amma - Naana

Bapu Cartoons - Cartoon of The Day...

Dear Children, Have a Nice Day!
With Love, Amma-Naana

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

August Strindberg

August Strindberg : Swedish playwright, novelist, and short-story writer, asks himself.

1. What is the main trait in your character?
This strange blending of the deepest melancholy and the most astonishing light heartedness.

2 Which characteristic do you prize most highly in a man?
Absence of narrow mindedness.

3. Which characteristic do you prize most highly in a woman?
Motherliness.

4. Which talent would you most like to possess?
To find the key to the world's mystery and the meaning of life.

5. Which fault would you least like to possess?
Narrow mindedness.

6. What is your favorite occupation?
To write dramas.

7. What would be the greatest happiness you could imagine?
To be nobody's enemy and to have no enemies.

8. What position would you most have liked to have?
To be a dramatist whose dramas were always being played.

9. What would you regard as the greatest misfortune?
To be without peace of mind and conscience.

10.Your favorite creature?
The butterfly.

11. Which English writer do you admire most?
Charles Dickens.

12. Which English painter do you admire most?
Turner.

13. Which fault in others do you find it easiest to forgive?
Extravagance.

14. Which social reform would you most like to see accomplished?
Disarmament.


Thank you for your loving e-mail ...


Hello sir,

Hope you are all doing good. We are doing well too. Monsoon has set in here, so that spares me from watering our garden everyday except for some maintenance work. Hope all your children & grand children are in good health and doing fine. Do convey our best wishes to everybody.

warm regards
Prakash Rao



Dear Mr. & Mrs Praksh Rao Garlu.

Namaskaramulu.

We are all doing fine here. Thank you very much for your loving e-mail. It is nice to know that that the Monsoon has set in there. And there was no water problem in the city.

Here it is summer, now. People are enjoying picnics. Picnics = a friendlier, more co-operative world! Certainly, there is a great joy to be had from sitting in the sun, birds tweeting in the fresh air...

Telugu community living in Edmonton city also enjoyed a picnic at Rundle Park. Our ACA, Edmonton organized it. We are also planning the second one in near future. You can click the link ttp://aanimutyaalu.blogspot.com/ to know more about our side.

Please convey our best wishes to all the members of your loving family. And our best regards to madam Varalakshmi garu.

Yours, Somayya Kasani