One Year Yayyy!!!!

Hey I complete one year of blogging this month... wow!!! no wonder they say the time flies on silent wings...



Aur isi kushi mein, I am working over the weekend... :-)

Hype and Hoopla

Talk about Hype and hoopla or talk about US.
Everything here is the World's best, biggest and greatest. Coz the world is US and US is world.
Atleast that is what the people here believe. (don't believe me? check out some of their newspapers)

The world's biggest tree, the banner screamed. Come and see it in the Sequoia national park, it said.
So there we were, 10 gullible desi's, lunch packed and car rented, eager faces glowing with expectation, looking around, searching for the world's biggest tree.
But where was the tree? all the trees around us seemed to be huge but of almost the same size and we had seen ones larger than these.
Oh yes!!! there was a tree fenced all around...That must be the one!
So onward we marched to it, to find another placard. Yes!! this was the world's biggest tree, not in size but in Mass... well duh uh!! I am sure they measured the mass of every tree on God's Green earth. How about our Adyar "Alamaram" then?
I have seen photos of trees in the Amazon, through which they drive trucks... Is the mass of this tree greater even than those giants? Well so they say!!!


Lake Tahoe, our guide said, was one of the most beautiful lakes in the ...what else.. world. When u go on a cruise on the lake, be sure to look out for the island with the castle on top of it.
Being a hard core romantic, I had already built the castle in my imagination with turrets and dragons and princesses and knights and had my eyes peeled so as to not miss it.
It was twilight and the light was dimming, but hey we are talking of a castle... one does not miss a castle even in the dark right!!! When suddenly, "There it is" screamed the guide. I ran to his side to see what he was pointing at. Yeah there it was, a tiny island with a stone shed that looked like the tower on a castle...that was the castle they were so proud about. *Bang Bang Bang* (that was me hitting my head on the cruise railing!!! Sigh!!)

Another example was the drive through the world's most beautiful coast, the 17-mile drive of Monterey bay. Yes it was awesome pretty! but wait! had I not seen something just like this somewhere else?.. Pondicherry beach?!

While it can be irritating, exasperating and pretty much amusing to us, we have to give credit for the kind of marketing and hoopla they create about even the most mundane things.

We spoilt Indians who come from a land where almost every street has a significance and a history to speak of, take it all for granted. Here though, they create their own history and blow it up so much, that we almost expect to see a miracle at every corner.

If only we had the same mentality back home, I think we can stop all other industries and mint money on tourism alone :-).

PS: I was most irritated when on a Ghosts and Legends tour on the cruise liner RMS Queen Mary. I was all set to get frightened out of my wits and kept following the guide everywhere, until the ...exit, And did not even see a fake ghost... aargh!!!

PPS: It has been a horribly busy monht. But found time to write at last…

Out of Body Experience

You have heard of stepping into another person's shoes?
Its a great teacher... shows whole new perspective of looking at a person.
What we perceive as haughtiness or snobbishness could well be an indication of fear or shyness or insecurity.
Of course it takes a little time and a little less ego to actually do it.
But everybody should try it at least once in a while.
Makes life so much more understandable.

On the flip side, Kindness and understanding are frequently misunderstood for weakness. While there is no cure for actual rudeness and carelessness for other people's feelings, it is rare to find people who are actually that way.

Another funny thing is that while we read about so many things, we always blithely think it would never happen to us. For example I have read that every bit of life's experience changes/ molds something in a person's character.
So true! I am sure my parents, with whom I interact on a daily basis, would be shocked by the changes; the last few months have etched on me. Heck!! Even I have trouble recognizing myself now and then :-)

Hmm!!! Looks like working too hard makes me philosophical... so let me stop before I am tempted to discuss the meaning of life :-)

Oh God!!!!

This is the only place I know where they greet even God with Chocolates and Bouquets. In US, atleast the few temples that I have been to, people bring bouquets to worship god. Also the prasad could be anything from nuts to chocolate fudge. Next they will be asking God out to the prom too

What is the difference between a Child and a Dog in US.


The dog has four legs
The dog is taken for a walk
The dog is kept on a leash when out of the house
The dog is petted and feted by family and friends of owner


The child has two legs
The child is taken out for walks
The child is also kept on a leash when out of the house
The child is also feted and cooed by family and friends of parents

Umm!!! doesn't seem like there is much in the way of differences huh?!
While I understand that leash is a great way of keeping the small toddlers in control. It does not sit well with me to see a child and a dog both in leashes.
I am told that pets are a great ease for loneliness, which is why the people here are obsessed with them. But it did seem too much of a overkill when I saw a desk with one photo of a child surrounded by 8 - 10 photos of a dog at my workplace.

Got a Brand New iPod. Video, 30 GB and I am still admiring it


Could not resist temptation and bought a 3 inch heels shoes (not stilleto... as I still do not have a death wish) and am now on top of the world (Pun intended)

Hmm!!! All in all a very eventful :-) and very very expensive :-( week...

Fone Funnies

I am still deciding if the hands free concept for phones is a curse or boon.

At least at the advent of hands-free, there used to be chunky equipment for the ear and mouth and a long black/white or whatever color wire dangling like a snake all over the person. Most times after couple of minutes of staring we could determine if the person was just plain crazy or was talking over the phone.

As usual technology had to put its long nose into this area too and spoilt everything. Now with Bluetooth and WiFi and what not, the hands-free has become so small as to be virtually unnoticeable. I have especially come to hate the Bluetooth after its booming popularity, here in US.

Why US? You ask. Simple. Half the people here are already crazy, so its all the more difficult to determine if the person sitting next to you, talking to himself /herself, is talking over the phone or just ahh... softheaded. Since loose hair is de rigueur, it is next to impossible to see if they have something attached to their ear or not.

Just today morning a passer-by on the road smiled and said good morning and I smiled back and wished him. He looked a little startled, then smiled and went along his way… only then I noticed the blasted Bluetooth dangling from his ear… he was wishing someone over the phone.

The other day a techno mad senior colleague stopped by my cubicle and started talking. Pulled out of whatever I was concentrating on, I could not make sense of what he was saying… I was getting increasingly confused until he stopped talking and proudly pointed to his... sigh!!! Yeah! New Bluetooth.

So the next time I was walking by his desk and heard him talking, I blithely assumed he was on the phone and continued walking, until he called my name and asked where I was going when he was talking to me. :-p

Someday I am either going to hide the instrument or preferably throw it from the tallest building I can find here .. :-)But until I get the courage to do either its going to be one incident after another

Cuisines and I

This is probably something that no one expected from me, including myself, but I thought it was about time I wrote about it anyway.

As a rule I believe in the phrase "Eat to live". Except for a craving for a pasta or dosa or pizza now and then, food had never interested me, Neither cooking (Shudder!) nor eating.

Since I landed here though, I find myself obsessed with trying out cuisines from different parts of the world. It is a new and very enjoyable facet about myself that I have recently discovered. I

It all started when I was in SFO, cribbing about having had nothing but Indian food for almost 3 months and heartily sick of it... my friends therefore fed me different types of food and I was hooked. It is especially challenging for a veggie.

So here is a list of different cuisines I have tried so far

Thai - Pad Thai, Panang tofu, Red curry and a Thai ice tea - It was different. They seem to use a lot of coconut milk and tofu in their dishes to make up for the loss of meat

American – I am calling this American for the lack of name to call it by. But we had soup and sandwich… would that be English cuisine? ? I have also tried doughnuts, bagels (this is actually mid-European) , burgers, onion rings, French fries etc.

Mexican – Enchiladas, Burritos, Tacos, Tostada, Quesillada (have I got the spelling right?) and the all-important tortilla

Italian – Of course the Pasta and its different varieties like Penne, Spaghetti, Fusilli which when mixed with the olive oil and freshly ground pepper is perfecto and do not forget the Pizza (even if it is not exactly the Italian version of it. I hear the bread used in Italian Pizza is much thinner than what is generally used world around)…On a side note, the restaurant I went to, taught Italian in its rest rooms :-p

Chinese – Noodles and fried rice and Boy!!! They had this lovely chilli sauce that promises to blister the tongue… ummm!!! 情人 (thats chinese for yummy heheh)

South African – Sambusa (Samosa basically), Chapathi and Dengu (a dal of sorts and some salad ) and South African Vegetable Biriyani (almost like our chapathi and biriyani)

French – Baguette, Croissants, pastries, Soufflé ...ummm délicieux

English – Custard, Pudding (desserts but nevertheles…)

Indian – Nothing needs to be said here.

The stuff that I plan to eat in the very near future include

French – I hear there is something called a crepe that tastes good and gotta check it out
Mediterranean – My friend has told me Cous Cous and Falafel are good.
Singapore - Zi Cha, Tim Sum (was told to try it but not sure what they are… will let you know once I try)
Ethiopian and Vegan – have been hearing a lot about it
Russian – I hear they sweeten all their dishes.
Turkish - No idea what it will have :-)
English – Kedgeree (something like our kichdi)

I have found a place where they have all these different food… and looking forward to go there soon…But my very next place to visit is the Taco bell :-p

Anyone with other ideas on vegetarian Cuisines... Do feel free to let me know. :-)

Sigh!!! Some days it is just not worth the effort to get out of bed... :-(

Diwali without firecrackers?

Should India ban firecrackers?

Oh my! God!!! Its bad enough that I cannot be around in India, during the most festive, colourful and enjoyable of festivals. Now they want to ban firecrackers in India and that too during Diwali… Aargh!!! Why don’t these people put all this energy in doing something really useful like saving the world? Can one even imagine a diwali without crackers? But sadly there has been a lessening of the bursting of firecrackers over the years… or am I just growing up and do not burst them as much as I used to…. Naaahhh!!!

People have just become more worried about the environment and society. Good! but not at the cost of diwali… no sireee..
Another reason I heard for not bursting crackers was that the firecrackers factories use maximum of child labour. Horrible thing, no doubt.

When the parents of such children were interviewed though, they gave an answer that was absolutely irrefutable. They said, that much as they would love to have their children go to school and study, this kind of labour at least keeps the children (if not the whole family) in food. What use, they ask, would education be when their children are not even getting the 2 meals per day, this way at least they do not go hungry. :-(

I tell myself, every time I burst a cracker, that maybe a child was able to eat today.

So have a Safe and Colourful Diwali!!! :-)

Gitanjali

Friend
Art thou abroad on this stormy night
on thy journey of love, my friend?
The sky groans like one in despair.
I have no sleep tonight.
Ever and again I open my door and look out on
the darkness, my friend!
I can see nothing before me.
I wonder where lies thy path!
By what dim shore of the ink-black river,
by what far edge of the frowning forest,
through what mazy depth of gloom art thou threading
thy course to come to me, my friend?

Recognise the above poem? No! How about this one?

Mind Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Yeah! I have been reading Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore. Its kewl! I didn't realise he was such a romantic...wow! Guess!! A poet has to be little bit of everything

Me Thinks...

Was just chatting with a buddy about having a writer's block and not able to think of anything to write when suddenly I had all these thoughts I just had to share. But you know how it is with the idea deluges, they leave as fast as the come.. But here are some of them that I still remember.

=> It pleased my feminist senses to learn that the President of my company is a Dynamic lady. It reminded me of a time not so long ago, in India when someone I knew (a man, of course) was thinking of getting a transfer, as his new boss was a lady. Me thinks the ego of the men in India have been pandered to, for far too long. In fact a friend of mine advised me that to win a man's heart, a woman has to be ready to be submissive and soothe his all important ego at all times. (my reply to this comment would obviously not be suitable in the blog). Now then, before all the men get up in the arms... I am not trying to generalize... I am sure there are a rare few of you who do not think along these lines. (In fact the men who raise their voice against what I have just written will not be the rare good guys ..heheheh)

=>I see so many women here in US, who have resigned from great jobs in India, changed and adapted to new lifestyles to be with their husbands and are feeling bored beyond words as their capabilities are going waste... Me thinks, why is it women who are always doing the sacrifices and are they appreciated for it or just taken for granted just as ever

=> On the lighter side, visited the downtown in my city. Its supposed to be one of the most dangerous areas with routine mugging etc. So was expecting it to be dark, with lotsa empty alleys and dangerous looking people hanging around... Me thinks, I was almost disappointed to find it look like parrys corner with loads of decent looking people shopping and a rather festive air around the whole place... and no alleys... just wide well lit roads.

=> Me thinks, after all the places I visited both inside and outside India, that Home is where the heart is and Heart is firmly lodged in Chennai... a friend reminded me that I sounded like the frog in the well story, where the frog concludes that the well is more beautiful than the sea. Yeah my Chennai is more beautiful than all the places I visited and my memory seems to keep embellishing it in to a more and more beautiful place with time.

=> Me thinks it is astonishing how many old acquaintances and friends I have found in US. it seems like most of my school, college and other varied friends have all settled right here... US seems to have become an extension of India.

=> Finally me thinks, making a guest welcome, at home and so very comfy is an art very few people can master. P and K you rock!!!

PS: I had this cute pic to upload... but for some reason blogger is not letting me upload the pic.. :-(

The Shrinking world

Is it a small world or what?
I was reading a historic romance coupla days back and there was a mention of steam engine in it. The characters were amazed by the speed at which it travelled... My God!!! All of 12 KM per hour.This mode of travel was too fast and everyone was sure it would never catch on. But there were many exclamations on how fast they could reach the different places in England. It was making the world small.

From the 1800s to now, the world has been shrinking shrinking shrinking... until there is hardly anything left of it.

Not so long ago,calling to US from India was a major event. You were s'posed to call up the trunk like and book a call and then when it got cleared you had to scream from this side to let the other person hear. There was always a lag and the connection was tenuous at best.
Now we can actually see and talk to people tens of thousands of miles away at the click of a button.

Communities like the orkut and ryze and chat rooms have made life much more easier. I joined (very reluctantly) one such communities recently at the urging of a friend and it was amazing. so many of my friends, schoolmates, acquaintances were also members. Got in touch with friends whom I had feared lost forever.
In fact a pal in one of the communities turned out to be working in the same company as I and we had been communicating for months before we even realized that :-)

One of my friends in my masters class was a chat pal I had lost touch with 2 years back.

How many times have the mails we sent, come back to us through circuitous routes, colecting a list of common friends and acquaintances in the "To" field.

I was able to realize the effect of this phenomenon, when a college friend's brother in US mailed me asking if I knew a person. That person turned out to be my ex-boss, who apparently shared an apartment with a friend of my friend's brother.*phew* Did u get the connection?
Hearing my ex-boss' company,it stuck my friend's bro that I might know her... and what dya know??? Of the 75000 people who work for my company.. I did know her.

Each of us, I am sure, has thousands of such stories to tell.

While everything does have its flip sides, I find myself falling deeper and deeper in love with all these technologies and thingamajicks.After all how else can an eskimo and bedoiun end up becoming best of friends

Dreamy Day!!!

Umm!!! the weather is absolutely beautiful.
Just the way I love it. Cloudy and just cold enough to be invigorating.
The trees and sky all seem to be smiling and waving at me.
My thoughts, like butterflies, flit from one fantasy to another.
How about walking down the beach... just on the edge where the waves threaten to wet the feet, pants folded, shoes in the hands and face lifted to receive the cool breeze the beach blows at you.
or maybe the nearest park, where kids are playing and screaming, birds singing (oops!! was that a crow cawing... nahhh there are no crows in my fantasies) and you just want to laugh out loud at all the beauty and frolic right along with them.
or maybe just curl up on the sofa, snuggle in with a warm cup of chocolate, read a book and gaze out at the garden...
sighhhhhh!!! :-)

*Ping* My computer pings me back to reality. Got coupla more hours left before the day and the week ends and here I am, gazing dreamily at the horizon through the window at the far end of the room.
sighhhhhh!!! :-(

But no matter... tomorrow is another day and a Saturday at that... I shall fulfill all my fantasies then :-)

Hope y'all have a fantastic weekend too :-)...

Mmmmmmm!!!!!!!

The Indo-Pak Game

The Indo-Pak game is the longest played game and has been on for more than 60 years.

Saw The Hindu yesterday. one of the headlines screamed... Indo-Pak peace talk to resume ...(again???)

Its kinda funny... everytime Pak hits India directly they lose and go back with their tails tucked behind. But that never stops them from sneaking an attack every now and again.
And when india gets ready to retaliate (yeah right!!! like thats gonna happen)... they wave forward a white flag and call for a peace talk.

Bharath Maa being so soft hearted always melts into a puddle, forgets all her loses and agrees to the talk until the next attack.

This is what in our SW jargon called an infinite loop.



Remember the last peace talk... just as it was going on, there was an attack and bombing in india and when the finger was pointed towards Pak... their prime minister immediately threatened retribution using nuclear weapons?
But hey thats ok... All is forgiven... hum bhai bhai hain... just like Kane and Abel... so what if their government is bad, the people of Pak love us and so we love them back

India follows the christian principle of showing the other cheek with a difference.
Here is my back and here is the knife... please feel free to stab anytime.

Aur Kya Kahoon.. Mera Bharath Mahan!!!

PS: Dya know that in most of the World Maps created outside India, part of kashmir is shown belonging to Pakisthan, making the top of India quite mishapen...esp all of them created in US? Be sure to google for this if u do not believe me.

PPS: Dya know that this news is known to most indians and they do not find anything wrong with it :-(

Missing America

I am definitely the only person who is missing USA coz I am living there.

Every shop that I visit has indians or atleast one of its near neighbours. People throng to temples and during the vinayak chathurthi one should have seen the temple near my place to believe it.

I hardly ever hear any english spoken around here.. I have heard tamil, telugu, kanada, hindi, malayalam, spanish and korean... just no English. (ok thats a bit of exagerration... but seriously I hardly ever hear english)... Remember my wish to speak with American accent?.. I have come down to just trying to understand the american accent... sigh!!! (yesterday my favourite chef, asked me dogoordoeadhere and I promptly told him I wanted the small one and not large...hehehe)

I swear I used to try more variety of cuisines in India than here in the US. Since I landed here I have visited every indian restaurant and not so much as tasted one bit of american.
Being a veggie doesn't help either.

I know it sounds like I am grumbling... but no actually.. its amazing and very very comforting... I feel more like I am in India here than even when I was actually in India. Almost every city I visited has a place called Little India... which is a piece of india itself placed in US.

But I sure would like to see how the actual US lives sometime :-p

oh :-(

Was reading a blog by a lady from Lebanon...

Made me feel petty for letting little frustrations get to me, when people all around the world are struggling to stay alive and healthy.The bewilderment and confusion among the people in beirut, wondering why all this was happening to them when they had never done anything against Israel, is heart breaking.

I don't find the scenario between India and Pakisthan all that different from Israel and Lebanon. So how come the world stood aside and let all this destruction, but frowns on india and threatens all kinds of repurcussions if it takes any revenge.

I am not condoning the violence but am trying to understand what could motivate someone to cause another human such untold misery and still be able to sleep.

I get queasy as hell when I see the remains of a rat after the cat has had its fill. Wonder how these people justify themselves to their conscience when they are the cat.

:-(

PS: I am still frustrated... but now about the world... hehehe

Frustrations Galore!!!!

politics politics everywhere..
no peace to be found.. :-(

Thats just very bad poem to express my extreme ire on whats happening with my life.I am most happy when people give me my work and leave me to work in peace. Since that is never going to happen...I would atleast like people to know what they want before they give me their request. Now thats not asking for too much is it? But No!... everyone wants the same thing done in different fashion...

Politics is bad enough when people are all of the same organisation... give a situation where there are 5 different organisations trying to work together... AAARGGGHH!!!!... Everyone is correct even if they are wrong.we cannot say/do anything to contradict for fear of stepping on their fragile egos...Being pathetic at playing politics myself..I always end up being the scape goat.

sigh!!! somedays it just is not worth the effort to get out of bed

I really don't need this... Leave me in peace to sulk...

Quote Me

I am easily satisfied with the very best.” - Winston Churchill (Me too!)

“-You can't just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.
-What mood is that?
-Last-minute panic.”
Calvin & Hobbes ( Couldn't have said it better myself... umm probably why I didn't..:-p)

Your birth is a mistake you'll spend your whole life trying to correct.” -- Chuck Palahniuk

“Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words.” -Calvin & Hobbes (poor kid :-p)

When I was a kid I said to my Father one afternoon, "Will you take me to the zoo?" He answered, "If the zoo wants you, let them come and get you." -- Jerry Lewis

“People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.” - Calvin & Hobbes (sighhh!!!)

“Who was the first guy that look at a cow and said," I think that I'll drink whatever comes out of those things when I squeeze them?” - Calvin & Hobbes (hey! never thought about that)

“Well, remember what you said, because in a day or two, I'll have a witty and blistering retort! You'll be devastated THEN!” - Calvin & Hobbes (Happens to me too :-D)

“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.” (hehehe)
Oscar Wilde s

“- "I've been thinking Hobbes --"
- "On a weekend?"
- "Well, it wasn't on purpose..."”
Calvin & Hobbes

“Dad, how do soldiers killing each other solve the world's problems?” (yeah how?? :-?)
Calvin & Hobbes

“I laugh, I love, I hope, I try, I hurt, I need, I fear, I cry. And I know you do the same things too, So we're really not that different, me and you.” Colin Raye s

“Don't walk away! I'm trying to apologize you dumb noodleloaf!” (Can't think of a better way to apologize :-p)
Calvin & Hobbes

Adam and Eve

I am sick and tired of people blaming Eve for all the evils in the world.

If Eve asked Adam to eat the forbidden fruit.. why did Adam not say No? Could he not speak or did God forget to give him a brain?

It is my considered opinion that Adam had probably always wanted to eat the forbidden fruit but was too spineless to incur the wrath of God. So the first chance he got to put the blame on poor Eve and eat the fruit too... he jumped for it.

Funny how from the time of creation till date the Adams are still blaming the Eves for everything.

What say gals????

Sighh!!!

Nothing quite spoils a weekend like being given work on friday evening 4.30, when you are just packing up and leaving.You can't leave the work and go home as it is gonna haunt you and spoil all the weekend plans and you are just not in the mood to work right away...hey its a friday evening after all. Totally Inhuman!!! It should be illegal to be given work after friday and before monday noon (a day I absolutely love to hate)

Adding insult to injury the people at offshore (india) have a looong weekend of 5 DAYS and we just have a 2 day weekend... *sniff*

I am sooo Jealous ...*wahhhh*

A rose by another name…

There is a phrase in English Language “ A rose by another name”, which means describing the same thing by a different name or in a different way.
But when you land up in US, a rose by another name could well be a … Cauliflower.

The language spoken in US is called American. The misinformed mistake it to be English. While they can be forgiven, for this language uses the English alphabets, and the spelling and pronunciation is also similar to English, the difference in meanings can be enormous

Something most innocently said could be misconstrued enough to spoil one’s name :-)
One has to be careful about even one’s gestures.
Add with it the variety of accents and you can be sure of facing some embarrassing time.

The first time a friend innocently told an American that she was living with another girl … she got a really weird stare, until her room mate hastened to add that they were actually sharing a two bedroom apartment.

When I accidentally kicked my friend when waiting in a queue, I at once touched her hand and apologized… she squirmed and explained to me that while this is the way we apologize in India, I better not touch any girls here. And since then I have noticed that people rarely touch each other, unless they are of the opposite sex. Sigh!!! Gutter-mind. What can I say? :-D

The first day in office I went for lunch and there was this very foreign (to me) looking guy with a chef hat behind the counter and I pointed out the veggie looking stuff on display to him. He made some garbled noises in a guttural voice. I gave him a blank look and stood there wondering if he were talking to me in Russian or Spanish, and thinking he probably did not understand what I was asking I pointed the food again. He made the same noises again and looked at me like I was an alien creature. I gave a helpless look and asked him if he could speak slowly as I could not follow him… so he slowly and patiently asked again… ‘Dogoordoeadere’…. (To go or to eat here). *phew* it took me three tries to understand English ne..American that the chef was speaking all along

Throw in a potpourri of Indian, Spanish, African, European, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Middle Eastern languages and accents and speaking becomes a regular adventure.