Are all nursery rhymes safe for children?

Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.

When you read this, it sounds like any other normal poem. Right?

Now read this page.

After reading the above page, I am not sure if I want my daughter to recite such a poem. Not sure how many poems are packaged as nursery poems and actually have a murkier significance.

Sigh!

Fall Foliage in New Hampshire

My grandmother once told me - Even if you forget that nature is changing, nature will make sure to let you know. My previous experience in the US helped cement that statement. However, it was apparent that something remained to complete an unknown void. Vivid Fall Foliage. And that too in US North East.

So, this time around, I made sure that I drove up north to New Hampshire (NH) to see what is famously touted as the best fall foliage seen on Earth. While I expected to see a lot more colorful scenery, what I saw was not less than splendid.

We left last Saturday at 2:30PM and reached Keene, NH at 7:15PM. We checked into a hotel and then walked around Main Street. Keene is a nice little town, having an old English flavor. People are cordial and nice. I did not notice any other Indian family there other than us. And probably more than 95% people are White Americans.

The route that we took for the scenic drive was the same one as proposed on visitnh.gov. We drove through the towns of Keene, Jaffery, Dublin, West Rindge, Peterborough, Hancock, Stoddard, Marlow and Gilsum.

We left Keene at around 2:30PM on Sunday. It took us a good 6 hours to return because of traffic snags. You could see all vacationing people returning back to their homes in CT or NY or NJ or probably further on. We did some intelligent decisions by taking exits that took us on State Routes so that we could join the Interstates after the exits where snags were being reported. It did help us save upto have hour or so.

The pictures are uploaded on Picasa Google and Flickr. Though the colors were not as vivid as someone has seen in Vermont, I did get to see colors that NH is famous for. Check the albums for more. Here are some of my favorites.

Magic or what?

I got this video in my email today. And it amazed me. We all know there is no such thing as "real" magic and that there is always some reason to every trick. But this defeats all reason! Give it a look.



Am sure if the secret is out, many would benefit. Most significantly, it would be the girls during their marriage. Tell them how they can do this, and they would bless you for eternity!!

Uneasy lies the head...

... that wears a crown - King Henry IV. Reference.

I was watching the movie "The Queen" the other day evening. The one that got the Oscar for Helen Mirren in 2006. This quote is displayed at the beginning of the movie. It spun off a thought in my head. More because lately I have been discussing about leadership and responsibility that managers have to properly execute.

Today evening, I was speaking with another friend and he has gotten the responsibility of people management recently. He was talking about the power of being a manager with this kind of responsibility - more precisely, the power of getting things done for resources. And I was reminded of this quote again.

Here are 2 ways I see this situation. Let me put as 2 quotes - very similar sounding, but altogether different in meaning.

1. Lightly lies the crown on the head it rests.
2. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

Can you see a difference between the two?

The first one says, if you take your responsibility lightly OR you misuse your power, the responsibility is NOT going to stay with you.
The second one says, if you are in a responsible position, then you will always have some worry or the other.

Let us now read the 2 lines with specific reference to people management. And a whole new meaning dawns, a deeper understanding of what it means to be a "people manager".

It is an enormous power to possess - the opportunity to mentor, the ability to shape the career and therefore the future of your reportees. And if you misuse it - there are myriad ways to that - some day, if not immediately, you are going to lose it. It includes the responsibility, the faith of your people and your manager / customers. Responsibility may return. Faith, however, is very difficult to recover.

As for worries, c'mon, which profession does not have it. It is how you deal with it. If you learn to enjoy the profession, you will enjoy it anyways. Right?

So there...!

Smarting

Being back in a place that you have been previously, especially in a foreign country, arms you with a special kind of knowledge! The awareness of places, routes, tucked away spots etc. which give you an aura when amongst other people who probably are new to the same place. Coming back to NJ is giving me that kind of a feeling.

BUT ... common sense should tell anybody to double check stuff before leaving home/office. And if one does not do that, they end up having to make lengthy detours while ranting - I don't know how I can miss it, I always knew it like the back of my hand! Not just that, you end up acting like a know-all-but-can't-do-a-thing!

Well, you can kinda get what I am trying to say above. :-p

I am trying to see if I can plan a trip to New Hampshire to see the famous fall colors in the Granite state. Hopefully it materialises. Let's see... I might get to show you some great fall pictures next week... or not. Hope is a good thing, right? I will stick to that for now.

Adios!