My OKRA Garden!

Inspired by the climax dialogue of Mohanlal in the Malayalam movie, Ividam Swargamanu, we decided to go ahead with gardening vegetables rather than flowers or spices.

Well, it was hard to decide what needs to be in the garden as we get 6-8 months of gardening time. Rounds of discussions, finally, we decided to go ahead with "OKRA" which is the vegetable always "on-demand" in our family and of course, on demand in the market too!

OKRA, known as Lady's finger in english speaking countries, Bhindi in Indian subcontinent, originated from Africa and cultivated mainly tropical and sub-tropical region.

The picture on the right is an OKRA from my garden.

Actually, the geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of South Asian, Ethiopian and West African origins. Supporters of a South Asian origin point to the presence of its proposed parents in that region. Opposed to this is the lack of a word okra in the ancient languages of India suggests that it arrived there in the Common Era (AD). Supporters of a West African origin point to the greater diversity of okra in that region; however confusion betweeen okra and West African okra casts doubt on those analyses.

The Egyptians and Moors of the 12th and 13th centuries used the Arabic word for the plant, suggesting that it had come from the east. The plant may entered have south west Asia across the Red Sea or Bab-el-Mandeb strait to the Arabian Peninsula, rather than north across the Sahara, or from India. One of the earliest accounts is by a Spanish Moor who visited Egypt in 1216, who described the plant under cultivation by the locals who ate the tender, young pods with meal.

From Arabia, the plant spread around the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and eastward. The plant was introduced to the Americas by ships plying the Atlantic slave trade by 1658, when its presence was recorded in Brazil. It was further documented in Suriname in 1686.

Okra may have been introduced to southeastern North America in the early 18th century. It was being grown as far north as Philadelphia by 1748. Thomas Jefferson noted that it was well established in Virginia by 1781. It was commonplace throughout the southern United States by 1800 and the first mention of different cultivars was in 1806.

Okra is cooked and also eaten raw in many countries into many different dishes, right from soups with fish, thick stew with vegetables and meat, breaded deep fried to soya sauce, chicken with okra.

During my childhood days, elders used to mention that okra contains radio calcium which helps in brain growth and development and often reminded me that when my marksheets, progress reports come from school. The same story, I too tell my child! :-)

The truth is Okra possess diuretic properties, which means, it pushes water out of our body and used to treat heart failure, hypertension, kidney disease and liver cirrhosis.

The picture on the right is my OKRA garden!

Amish Acres - Arts & Crafts Festival 8-Aug-2010

Amish Acres is a tourist attraction in Nappanee, Indiana. Arts and Crafts Festival was held between 5-Aug-2010 to 8-Aug-2010.

The Arts and Crafts Festival has evolved from a clothes line art exhibit begun in 1962 in front of the Pletcher Furniture Village in downtown Nappanee. Held during sidewalk days, the exhibit displayed the water colors created by the arts and crafts program from the parks and department. Joseph Wrobble, well known teaching artist from South Bend, Indiana and Dory Crane a Nappanee promoter were instrumental in the early years of the event.
Over the next several years vendors were allowed to sell their arts and crafts from booths along the city streets and alleys. Professional judges were employed to choose winning art work from entries. Food offerings were expanded. Entertainment was added. Visitors began asking for Amish related products and services. Baked goods, meats, jams and jellies were added. Horse and buggy rides plus countryside tours were added to the festival. By 1968 the festival had taken on enough Amish flavors that became in essence the feasibility study for the creation of Amish Acres. In 1969 during restoration of the farm the festival remained downtown. Visitors were shuttled to the farm for preview tours. An Amish church held a homemade ice cream social in the bank barn. A year later the festival was moved to the courtyard of the farm which included the original relocated barn that became Amish Acres first restaurant. As the festival grew and the number of booths expanded into the farm’s orchard, the decision was made to move the marketplace to surround the pond.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Well, I was thinking of a "hot" topic for you readers, nothing came up to the mind, until I got this "hot" Idea!

I've been traveling across India, Europe, Americas and my friends, colleagues often mention a liking about spicy food. Many mean the word "spicy" as "hot", which of-course is not fully right.

"Hot" food is liked by many but when it extreme hot, one suffers quite badly. While many european friends mentioned that is the healthy food.

Interestingly, the unit of measurement for the "spicy heat" is called as Scoville scale.
The scoville rating ranges from 100 to 1,075,000 for Bell pepper to Bhut Jolokia.

Bell pepper is the "capsicum" which is used for salads, sometimes fried rice etc and normally felt sweet or little hot. I did not get a chance for tasting the Bhut Joloki. Bhut Jolokia was certified in 2007 by Guiness Book of World Records as the "Hottest" chilli pepper in the world. This is atleast 3 times hotter than our Guntur chilli.

After tasting the Guntur chilli from Andhra, India, I got a chance the explore Mexican Jalapeño, Serrano. I was fascinated with Serrano by flavor until I had chance to taste "Habanero".

Habanero belongs to the same class as Guntur chilli but is more fruity juicy pepper, which adds taste and flavor, particularly with fish curry made with coconut juice!

The below picture is a sample of Habanero from my garden in Mishawaka!

Who Is An Expert?

Who Is An Expert?
An expert, according to Wikipedia, is a person with extensive knowledge or ability in a particular area of study.
An expert can be, by virtue of training, education, profession, publication or experience, believed to have special knowledge of a subject beyond that of the average person.
The last line in the definition of an expert deserves a closer look because it mentions some of the processes that turn an average person into an expert including training, education, profession, publication and experience

Who Is A Technical Expert?
Borrowing from Wikipedia’s definition, for the purposes of this post, I will define a technical expert as someone who has the training, experience or education to give sound advice and information in a technical profession.
The technical professions referred to in this post include those of data analysts, database developers, software developers, business analysts, project managers, software architects, web designers, testers and other software development professional.

Why Should You Become A Technical Expert?
There are two (2) main reasons why you would want to become a technical expert.
Benefits:
If you are a technical expert you are automatically compensated at levels far above the other professionals in your field. You will find that your expectations are easily met that you are worth for.
Name Recognition or Star Power:
I have been in several customer technical interviews where the interviewer googled my name “Franklin Nelson” before the interview. Typically the interviewer takes a note of how many times my name gets mentioned on Google, who is mentioning my name and what websites my name where mentioned on.
My interviewers frequently comment about the books I write or the blogs I manage.I have received both Project Business offers and software consulting offers through visitors who stumbled upon my websites or blogs and then decided to do business with me. In my opinion, one of the biggest benefits of being considered a technical expert is that you will find it easier to get Project Business offers or consulting offers as a technical expert since you have taken the time to make your expertise known and available to the general public
What Do Technical Experts Do?
Marketing Rules:
Recognizing technical expertise is not a 100% objective exercise. A large part of becoming a technical expert deals with how willing you are to market yourself, your skills, your expertise and your domain of specialization to the general public. It is a virtually difficult or impossible to become a technical expert without a fair amount of marketing or writing or speaking or presentation of your skills to the public. No one gets to become a technical expert in the privacy of their own room without showing themselves to the public.
This is one of the greatest secrets or reasons why some people become technical experts and others don’t. Simply put, the more you get your name out there and your name is associated with a field of expertise, the more you are considered to be a technical expert in that field.
The Role of Knowledge:
The other way to enhance your career or profession and become a technical expert is simply to study, educate, train and increase your knowledge in a technical subject to a level far above that of others in your industry. Increasing your knowledge takes time, effort and dedicated practice.
However, if you invest the time to master your technical domain and become an expert, your technical excellence will be noticed by your colleagues, your managers, your clients or the public as you begin to solve increasingly complex or difficult technical problems. For example, several times in my career, I have been called to a client site and given a problem that stumped the team or the experts on the team, only for me to resolve it within a few minutes or hours.
When this happens, my client simply reasons that since I solved in an hour, a problem that has kept the team back for several days, I am worth every penny I am paid and more. I have actually had clients prompt me to increase offer/proposal rates because of the perceived and real value that I bring to the table.
Advancing your skills and knowledge is important because no amount of marketing on your part will replace your ability to resolve a client’s problem within a few minutes of you encountering the problem.
Your knowledge, expertise and personal ability to solve complex or difficult technical problems will also earn you your client’s loyalty, respect and keep you billable on a project long after everyone else is off the project.
So, here is a rule of thumb for aspiring technical experts:
Your marketing skills will get you through your client’s or pre-sales or group/project manager door but your technical expertise will keep you worthy or engaged with your client or employer.
How Do You Become A Technical Expert?
Here are a few things you need to do to build up your skill and become a technical expert:
Education:
You need to stay educated and abreast of all the developments in your field. You must master both the theory, concepts and topics associated with your body of knowledge. When I refer to education, I mean both formal and informal education. If you can afford (time, money and effort) to go to college, do so. If you can afford (time, money and effort) to go to graduate school, do so.
Whether you can attend college or graduate school or not, make sure you are not skimping on buying and reading your professional books (informal education).
Training:
Get as much training as you can. It will look good on your resume and will also improve your skills, knowledge and expertise. Pay attention to online training classes, distance learning or training programs and other training opportunities that present themselves.
Coaching / Mentoring:
Find someone who is experienced enough in your field of specialization to be your mentor or coach and then simply follow their instructions. In my opinion, choosing a qualified mentor or coach can make or break your career and not choosing one is simply not an option.
When you find someone who has built a habit of successfully mentoring or coaching others, simply do what he or she tell asks you to do. Mentoring or coaching is critical to becoming a technical expert because there are so many nuances or details particular to each professional career, that you simply would not and cannot observe or learn in a classroom setting.
These details are meant to be passed on to a willing student by an able mentor. If you miss out on your mentoring or coaching opportunities, you will miss out on wisdom, the kind of wisdom that separates the men from the boys and either distinguishes your career or relegates you to meaningless conformity for the rest of your career. Simply put, to become truly great, you must learn how great minds work.
The saying “The student is only as good as the teacher” is important to keep in mind.
How To Take Action
Choose a field of specialization:
Decide what you want to become a technical expert in. Choose based on market demand / project requirements / company goals for specific skills, job data, your personal strengths and weaknesses or other relevant criteria.
Become The Best:
Train yourself with the goal of becoming one of the best in your field of endeavor. Study, get a coach or mentor, educate yourself and make it your goal to know better than anyone else.
Show Yourself To The World:
Technical experts are not created in oblivion or in the privacy of their own room. To be considered an expert in the public eye, you must be willing to present, sell, educate or market your credentials to the public. It is actually public opinion, public judgment or the opinion of others that confirms you as a technical expert.
So, you must be willing to inform, educate, train and assert what you know with others before you can be accepted as a technical expert. There are several ways to do this, for example, with blogs, newsletters, books, eBooks, magazines, articles. Choose the media that works for you based on your budget, your personality and type of profession and then present yourself to the world.

Sunburst Races 2010

Sunburst Races is one of the Michiana's most exciting athletic events. The marathon and half marathon provide a beautiful course along the scenic St. Joseph River; the 10K and 5K runs provide the speed and excitement of the shorter distances, and the 5K walk supports general fitness. But no matter your distance or your pace, all participants are treated to a world-class finish at the hallowed grounds on the University of Notre Dame Stadium's 50-yard line. It's a finish you'll never forget.

For 2010, the events were conducted based on the following schedule:

Family Fun Walk	6:00 p.m. (Friday, June 4)
Marathon	6:00 a.m. (Saturday, June 5)
5K Run	7:15 a.m.
Half Marathon	7:30 a.m.
10K Run	7:45 a.m.
5K Fitness Walk	9:00 a.m

Family walk on Friday, is on the east race in South Bend along the St.Joseph River.

2010-Michiana Bike to work week

In michiana (region bordering states Michigan and Indiana!), during May every year, one week is celebrated as "Bike to work" week. During this week, companies, individual can register in the website http://michianabiketowork.org/ and log on their miles from home to office and vice versa. There is also a trohpy for the organization which is recording the most miles!

2009 Results
111 teams
679 Riders
Total miles ridden to work: 16,179
BOSCH "Brakeaways" rode 2614.30 miles
2010 Results
Bosch "Brakeaways" leading with 2434 miles (33 participants!)

The Courage to say "I am sorry"!

"You may be sorry that you spoke, sorry you stayed or went, sorry you won or lost, sorry so much was spent. But as you go through life, you’ll find – you’re never sorry, you were kind."

“It‘s your fault!”, “What did I do?”, “I deserve an apology!” Sound familiar? These are the typical exchange of words we experience in a heated argument with someone. What happens next?! Both are hurt and both are too stubborn to say sorry!

Saying I’m sorry is not an area of my expertise. But now, I managed to become a better person by humbly apologizing to a loved one that I did hurt. You see sometimes, we hardly realize the importance of swallowing our pride to tell our loved ones how sorry we are for hurting them. I guess we don’t really intend to appear rude or uncaring, it’s just that sometimes it is difficult to utter those three important words because we‘re not used to saying it.

For people, maybe learning how to apologize in small mistakes will help us build more courage to recognize our shortcomings. We should probably start small and try our best to work our way up. Maybe practicing and saying it more often will help us mold it as a form of habit. If it becomes a habit, it will be a lot easier to acknowledge our own faults.

I think it is necessary to cultivate in our minds that we need to pay more attention towards the feelings of others. Having loved ones and being in a relationship comes in the form of a package with misunderstandings and arguments. So for us to maintain a healthy and harmonious relationship with the , we should be willing to say “I’m sorry.”

"You can say sorry in over 1000 ways. Only when it comes from the heart,does it matter."

BIKE the BEND

"Bike the bend" is a memorable event of biking in the streets and trails of Mishawaka and South Bend along the University of Notre Dame campus.

More information about "Bike the bend" (maps, registration etc) in the below link:
http://www.bikethebend.com/