How cold is cold?

I was going through some of my old pictures and saw this one. It may not be politically correct for me to upload this on the blog, but I just cannot stop myself. More because this photograph always brings a wide smile on my face and forces my wify to run for cover. She has lived all her life in the warm, rather very warm, Hyderabad and this was the first time we had been to the Himalayan peak, fully covered with snow. We had expected that to be cold when we started from Manali to Rohtang Pass, but hadn't quite got our estimate right. How cold the cold could be? Although our guide had stopped by a road-side warm cloth rental shop and strongly advised us to rent boots and overcoats. We had never in our lives put on such extreme weather clothes but we heeded to his advice. Once we reached the peak, we got out of the warm car to sub-zero temperature. I have been to Nepal, UK and USA during winter seasons, and could manage even though I was ill-prepared for this exposure. Supriya couldn't take it and was in the condition of shock for sometime, which is when I took this picture.

The other picture was taken at the same spot when Supriya had kind of recovered!

That you are to me

You are to me my God's own daughter,

And the ray of light from him that brings life,

You are to me the gift of eternal joy,

And so much more than just my wife.

You are to me my most precious jewel,

And the rain drop on the arid land,

You are to me my soul with God's love,

And beauty of twinkling stars of the sky abound.

You are to me my identity in body and spirit,

And my eternal abode in Lord's empire,

You are to me His unmistakable signpost,

And the one who rescued me from worldly quagmire.

(The picture is from our trip to Manali where the touch of cold flowing river water had my wify burst into ecstasy as can be seen.)

We are expecting a baby!

Yes, we are. Supriya is carrying and expecting to break her waters by March 2009. Life suddenly seems to have overtaken us and it appears that it will never be the same again. I can hardly believe the years that have gone by unnoticed. I was a child not so long ago, and now I will have a child of my own! This leads me to the conclusion that life indeed is short and momentary. It is indeed but a journey from God's creation to homegoing when He calls back. And well, when this life here is indeed so short, compared to the eternal life that we have after the demise of this earthly abode, why do most of us squander away the gifts of life for precious nothing on this earth.

I am excited and don't have much to write about today. But promise to write on this blog more often.

Finally, here is a pic of my wife along with her class mates when she was a fifth grader. Can you identify her?