Symbols of Faith

During my travel I have come across people who practice different religious faith. I have always felt that this faith may be known by different names but there is a underlying commonness which helps keep the goodness in man and help one relate to other.

Nowhere has this feeling been more profound then when I am standing in a temple or a church or a monastery the ultimate symbol of one's faith. I have always been swept with a sense of peace on visiting such structure no matter which faith it represents. Just standing in such a structure renews my faith in man and the belief that no religion can be bad. This structures were meant for Man to find refuge in his faith to keep his hope for better tomorrow alive . It was meant to provide him with strength and peace to take the challenges of this world. It was meant to help him understand the difference between good and evil and preach love , harmony and respect for fellow human being. It is really sad that some people now try to use this structures to spread hate.

The United States has become a melting pot for people from different origins , race , color and faith. The earliest settlements were of people who migrated here from Spain , Portugal, England , France , Italy, or other parts of Europe . This people brought as slaves people from Africa , China and India . Today you find people from every part of the world be it Middle Eastern countries or the Eastern Europe and also from South Asian Countries who have migrated and settled in USA. So it is but natural that one can see varied religious structures representing the faith that this people follow. So you can see

• Synagogues where the Jews followers of Judaism faith can offer their prayers or study the Torah. America is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.
• Mosques where the followers of Islam whether they came from Europe, Pakistan or Afganistan or Middle-East or African American communities offer thier daily Namaz
• Gurudwaras where the Sikhs mostly from Punjab in India or Pakistan and Hindus will ear the Gurubani and offer prayers to the gurus and eat the meals served by Langar. In US and in Canada you will find a huge Punjabi population who are normally in the transport business - trucks and taxis or agriculture or hospitality business - restaurants and hotels.
• a Swami Narayan Temple where followers Swaminarayan Faith mostly people from India will offer thier prayers
• a Buddhist Temple where people following Buddhism faith mostly people from China , Mongolia, Korea , Tibet, India , Ceylon and Japan will come light the incense sticks and seek peace
• Hindu Temples or Mandirs where people mostly from India or followers of Iskon will offer prayers to the different forces of nature.

Indian Temples in US and pictures of some festival celebrations

Shri Venkateshwra temple, Malibu

Shiv Vishnu Temple - Livermore

Dassera and Ram Navami Celebrations at Fremont Temple

Fremont Temple

Ganesh Pooja at Sunnyvale Temple

Ganesh Pooja Sunnyvale Temple

Theme Parks of US - a world of fantasies and spectacular thrills

A trip to America is not considered complete without visit to some of its most famous Theme parks. The visit to any of this parks prove that Americans are masters in the art of entertaining on the grand scale. The theme parks originated as a blend of the :

• periodic fairs normally a annual event which used to be held for providing amusement to the local people with entertainment , food , games and carnival attractions and
• parks or gardens which allowed the locals a space to relax with kids and family anytime of the year.

The purpose of the fairs and parks was to provide locals a avenue to relax, celebrate , have fun and to showcase local talents but more important to build the community feeling. The modern theme parks are out and out a commercial product . Its a product of American enterpreneurship which converted man's simple need to have fun into a full fledged entertainment business where people can walk in anytime of the year and buy the best that money can provide. Most theme parks are extensions of the best entertainment brands in the industry and provide the visitors an oppurtunity to acquaint with the brand in a more personal way.

• Disney Land - where the dream comes true : extension of the Walt Disney brand where children get to spend time with their favorite cartoon and animation characters like Mickey Mouse , Minnie Mouse , Peter Pan , Goofy , Alladin and Jasmin or the more recent characters made famous by the PIXAR films like Toy story , Finding Nemo etc. They can spend a day in the Fantasyland and re-live the fantasies they watch in the cartoons or enjoy Jungle adventures in Adventureland or be at Tommorrowland and look into future. How Walt Disney came into being is also no less then a fairy tale. Walt Disney started his own production because of a fallout over making of films potraying Oswald the lucky rabbit a cartoon character produced under Universal studio banner. He then went on to create his own character Mickey Mouse which became the icon for the Walt Disney Company. The rest as they say is history . The theme parks are in California and Florida in US , Paris (France), Tokyo (Japan) and in Hongkong. The one we visited was at Anaheim , California during the christmas vacation of Dec-06.

• Universal Studios : allows the people to have a tour of the world famous studios and understand about the world of film making as explained by the experts . There are special shows which allow the visitor a insight into the thrills , rides and stunts that went into the making of some famous Hollywood films like Waterworld , King Kong , Jurrasic Park, The Mummy Returns etc. For the kids there is the opportunity to get close to Nickelodean characters like Sponge Bob square pants , Dora and Diego and others from Universal movies like Shrek and Batman and to let it loose at the Nickelodean Blast zone. They have this theme parks in Hollywood and Orlando in US and in Japan. Like the Disney there are more then one of the Universal Studios two in US - Orlando and Hollywood ( this was the one we visited in Dec-06) , Japan and Spain.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• SeaWorld: a spectacular attempt to bring children and adults closer to marine and sealife. The place showcases some of the best spectacles in interactive entertainment - as man alongwith the creatures of the big seas like Shamu the whale, dolphins, walrus and seals perform up a range of mindboggling and daredevil tricks. The theme parks has operations in Orlando (Florida) , San Diego (California) and San Antonio (Texas) in US and a new one in Dubai , United Arab Emirates. There is one in Goldcoast Australia same name but not related to the same franchise . We have been to San Diego one in Dec-06 and the Gold coast one in Apr-05

• Legoland: This theme park has been build by the world famous toy manufacturer Lego Toys . This place reflects the flights of imagination which can be taken just with a box full of plastic blocks or brick as they are so often called . Lots of fun and rides for children of age groups 3 to 10 famous attractions being the Duplo gardens, Children Driving school, Fire Academy , Miniature Town and Boating school . The theme park has operations in Billund - Denmark, Windsor (Berkshire) - England , Gunzburg - Germany and Carlsbad (California) - US. We have been to the Carlsbad one in Mar-08

Solvang ,CA - a homage to motherland

We decided to utilize Tanay's spring break and my project at Santa Monica as an opportunity to visit some of the places which we had missed during our Dec-2006 visit to LA. Accordingly we decided to drive down to LA and en route decided to do a short stop over at Solvang the "Danish Capital of America,". We had heard about this town from some friends and found out that it has featured as one of the “10 Most Beautiful Small Towns in the Western United States”.

Surfing on the net we found that Solvang’s history dates back to 1911 when adventurous Danish-Americans traversed the plains from Iowa to establish a settlement in the golden state of California. They purchased 9,000 sun-drenched acres of the former Rancho San Carlos de Jonata and situated their new community adjacent to the historic Old Mission Santa Inés.

So with this information in the bag on March20,2008 we finally drove from Fremont to Solvang a long 4 hrs drive which was hardly noticed as we soaked ourself in the beautiful sites on the scenic and historic route of Highway 101 and Pacific Coast Highway1 which was a beautiful experience. To make this trip more lovely Aruna put on the romantic songs of dear Kishorda and Yesudas which made us both feel young and romantic and the kids cooperated sleeping thru the whole drive.

When we reached this town nestled in the Santa Ynez Valley wine country on California's Central Coast (approximately thirty minutes north of Santa Barbara) we suddenly felt that we have reached a old village town of Europe not yet touched by modernization. The drive had made us hungry so before exploring the town we had lunch at one of the restaurants serving Danish style sandwiches and soup .

Solvang,a Danish settlement in CA

Our tummies full we started exploring the pedestrian-friendly village and found that it is home to some bakeries, restaurants, and merchants selling wares all of which offer a taste and a flair which is purely Danish. The architecture of many of the buildings with - its blue & green roof tops and a plastic stork (a sign of luck) , the town's ambiance with gentle rolling windmills , horsedrawn carriages and family bicycles all strive to capture the Danish heritage. This actually was the intention of the original settlers and their descendants who even today have closely protected their Danish culture and language which has passed down the generations .

By 4.30 pm we had completed our tour and as we sat in the car to drive to LA I could not but admire the Danes effort to offer homage to their motherland.

Snippets

For information lovers

• There is a copy of the famous Little Mermaid statue from Copenhagen
  
• A bust of famed Danish fable writer Hans Christian Andersen.
• Mission Santa Ines, which is located near the center of the town is one of the California missions, is both a National Historic Landmark and a California Historical Landmark.
  
• Much of the Oscar-winning 2004 film Sideways was filmed in Solvang
  
• Patricia Hitchcock, the only child of the film director Alfred Hitchcock, currently resides in Solvang
• Solvang was one of the two locations featured in the William Castle film, Homicidal. The location used for the drugstore and flowershop still stands today and remains relatively unchanged.
• Rancho del Cielo, President Ronald Reagan's ranch which served as the "Western White House" during Reagan's two terms in office, is located about six miles (10 km) outside of Solvang.

Stanford , CA - A Story of Parental Love

May 03, 2008 this is my fifth visit to Stanford University till date and this time it was to go up the Hoover Tower and also to try out my new camera. My first visit was with a friend and from then on the campus is one of the must see places for any family and friends who have visited us . The campus is home not only to some of the smartest minds in the world (which is what makes it the premier education institution) but is also a nestles some great architectural building and scenic landscapes.

During each visit I have returned awed by the sheer energy of the place which is difficult to explain . I finally gave in to my curiosity to know more about this institution and stumbled upon this amazing tale of parental love as stated on the official site of "The Farm".

Origin:

The university which opened on October 1,1891 was founded by former California Governor Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane Stanford in honor of their only child, Leland Stanford, Jr., who died of typhoid just before his 16th birthday. Stanford Sr., fell into a troubled sleep the morning the boy died and when he awakened he turned to his wife and said, “The children of California shall be our children.” These words were the real beginning of Stanford University.

The Stanford’s were determined from the outset on creating a great university, one that, was untraditional: co-educational, in a time when most were all-male; non-denominational, when most were associated with a religious organization; avowedly practical, producing “cultured and useful citizens” when most were concerned only with the former.

Some of the snippets mentioned below indicate the legacy which these selfless parents strived to leave behind :

• Motto - Die Luft der Freiheit weht (In German translated it means– The Wind of freedom blows)
• In a statement of the case for a liberal education, Stanford wrote -I attach great importance to general literature for the enlargement of the mind and for giving business capacity. I think I have noticed that technically educated boys do not make the most successful businessmen. The imagination needs to be cultivated and developed to assure success in life. A man will never construct anything he cannot conceive.
• Guiding objective - to qualify students for personal success and direct usefulness in life; and to promote the public welfare by exercising an influence on behalf of humanity and civilization, teaching the blessings of liberty regulated by law, and inculcating love and reverence for the great principles of government as derived from the inalienable rights of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
• Inaugural address: On the opening day Dr. Jordan the first president told the attendees that “ it is upon us as teachers and students to lay the foundations of a school which may last as long as human civilization and which is hallowed by no traditions; it is hampered by none”

No wonder that the visitors like me get swept by the positive energy of love which surrounds this institution. I hope that one day someone from the extended family of Pai's, Nayak or Bhandarkar's make it to this great institution not merely as visitors but as a student .

Stanford University

Campus landmarks:

• The Main Quad
• Memorial Church
• The Cantor Center for Visual Arts and art gallery
• The Stanford Mausoleum and the Angel of Grief
• Hoover Tower
• The Rodin sculpture garden
• The Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden, the Arizona Cactus Garden
• The Stanford University Arboretum, Green Library and the Dish
• Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1937 Hanna-Honeycomb House and the 1919 Lou Henry and Herbert Hoover House are both National Historic Landmarks now on university grounds

Some famous alumni:

• John Harsanyi (Ph.D. 1958), Nobel prize winner in economics (1994) Computer science and electrical engineering
• Eric Allin Cornell (B.S. 1985), Nobel prize winner in physics
• Jerome Friedman (postdoc), Nobel prize winner in physics (1990)
• Minoru "Sam" Araki (B.S. 1954, M.S. 1955)), former president of Lockheed's space and missiles division, designer of the 1st space based earth observation system
• Bradford Parkinson (Ph.D. 1966), inventor of global positioning system (GPS), inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame
• Kumar Patel, (MS, Ph.d., EE), inventor of carbon dioxide laser (the most widely used laser), national medal of science winner
• James L. Adams (ph.D, ME, 1961), co-designer of Stanford CART, the first computer-controlled robot cart
• Andy Bechtolsheim (Ph.D. dropout), designer of the first networked SUN workstation
• Sergey Brin and Larry Page (M.S.), developer of Google search engine, Marconi prize winner
• Dave Boggs (Ph.D.), co-inventor of Ethernet
• Vint Cerf (B.S. 1965, former prof.), Internet pioneer, co-inventor of TCP/IP internet protocol, Turing award and Marconi prize winning computer scientist, inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame
• Donald D. Chamberlin (M.S., Ph.D in EE), coinventor of SQL (Structured Query Language)
• John Cioffi (M.S., Ph.D.), father of DSL (broad band internet connection), Marconi prize winner
• Sigourney Weaver, actress