Somehow I was not excited about my first day at office. Though it turned out to be pretty exciting as they did not know that I am joining them. The two HRs who knew about my joining were on vaccation and the HR head did not know any thing about me as I was hired when he was on vaccation.
One lady gives me some papers and asks me to fill them out and tells me that the HR head will meet me after some time.
HR( to another hire who joined on the same day as me): Hey! good to see you at last!
(Then turning to me) : oh Saurav..you are not supposed to be here!!! Did we hire you?
Me: oh yes!! I have the offer letter.
I give it to him.
HR: okay you know what. You are supposed to sign this and send it back to us so that we know that you accepted our offer.
me: I did send it to you and have a mail acknowledging its receipt.
HR: oh! I guess then you must have been hired. Welcome aboard.
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After that there has been not much work. I am doing some self training. I guess I should enjoy these days as much as I can. I think I will be on a project from next week. My schedule till then is reach office read some stuff, go for lunch and try out the snacks that they have in office which includes M&Ms. Ispe golu ne kaha "sale tu kaam nahin kar raha hai..mere se jyada salary kama raha hai..upar se tujhe free M&Ms miltey hain!! this is not fair."
But I think golu and life both have never been fair hence no complains.
ps: Dont dont mention company name in comments. I dont want to get into any trouble for blogging.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Good bye
No this is not my last post on this blog!! It is just that this is the last blog as a student. I will be starting a job from this monday and it is so scary. I hope I would have time to blog from next week.
Getting out of the comfort zone of the city and friends is so difficult. I guess once I settle down things will be good or even better as I am moving into NYC from baltimore. :)
ta from graduate panda
(this post was written last week and i just forgot to publish it. I have already started working now)
Getting out of the comfort zone of the city and friends is so difficult. I guess once I settle down things will be good or even better as I am moving into NYC from baltimore. :)
ta from graduate panda
(this post was written last week and i just forgot to publish it. I have already started working now)
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Love does not cost a thing
The traffic was really bad. Everybody had been blocked and nobody knew why. Vehicles were just moving like snails. And Gautam sat in taxi cursing himself. He would surely lose her. He tried calling her again but the same result - "The number you have called is either switched off or out of range. Please try calling later." He started getting restless. Why the hell did he have to wait for the last minute of her leaving India to tell her how much he loved her.
"Yaar, kahin se is road se nikal kar short cut nahin le sakatey kya? Mujhe jaldi airport pahunchana hai."
"kya boltey saab? Idar se kidarku jate. sab jahag se blocked hai. Nikalnaich muskhil hai."
His could feel his heart sinking. He had lost her.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gautam's and ishita's story had been like a movie. They both knew each other from school. Gautam could not remember from what time he had been friends with her. As far as he could remember she had always been with him. Was it love at first sight. He doesn't know. He could not remember when exactly he started feeling as if she is not just a friend but something more than that. Dammit!! He still did not know if she shared his feelings.
Gautam's father Mr. Singania was one of the richest industrialist in town. Gautam had always been in awe of his father. His mother had died when he was 5 and since then Mr. Singhania had been his father and mother. Though a busy man he had always tried to be there for his son when he needed him. Although Gautam was never satisfied with his dad, but he always knew he was trying hard. And he also knew that to his dad success and money were very important.
And this had been the problem between him and Ishita. Ishita was from a middle class family, her dad being a government employee. For all her good looks and manners, Ishita had no hunger to prove herself professionally which meant she never tried hard and ended up as a software professional in a small company. Now Mr. Singhania's expectations from his daughter-in-law were much more than that.
Before revealing his heart's feelings Gautam wanted to make sure his dad would approve of Ishita. His worst fears came true when his dad simply put his foot down on the issue. Ishita did not deserve to be in their family.
"How could you even think of her in such a way, Gautam? Look at her family and look at us. Our status is no match for them"
"Dad! try to understand me. I love her."
"Some day you will realise son that all these feelings come to nothing. They are worthless in real life. Money and status are the most important things, and I am trying to get a girl for you who would bring both of them in abundance to our family"
"Someday you will realise how wrong are you? You have been blinded by money's power. Love stands over everything. Your money can buy many material things but can never buy love."
"See, lets stop all this. You wanted to know what I feel about Ishita and I have told you that. Rest is upto you."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
His father's strong denial weakened Gautam. He thought about this for a long time. He could not talk to Ishita cause he could not stand in front of her without expressing his feelings. And as hard as he tried he could not go against his dad's wishes. He was getting torn in this situation of indecisiveness.
But all changed the day Ishita was to leave. He made up his mind. Heart won over head. Love over money and status. And he decided to tell everything to Ishita and stop her from going away from him. All the events from past two weeks were running though his mind but when he looked around, nothing had changed. His taxi was not moving. He got desparate. He looked at watch and realised it was the time for Ishita's flight. He had lost her forever. And he sat in the taxi weeping and waited for the traffic to clear up so that he could go home.
"Hey, do you know what? I missed my flight. I got caughtup in this stupid traffic jam and now shall have to wait till tomorrow for next flight. I reached home and realised you had called me up. whats up with you yaar..where have you been..did not want to see me before I leave?? "
*********************************************************************************
"Sir, heard about your son's engagement!! congratulations.."
"Yeah, yeah thanks...you know young generation. Can not walk two steps in real life and think they understand what love is. But thats all right, after all he is my son."
"Sir, the travel agent had called. He is demanding twice the charge saying you used up the trucks for double the time of what he had agreed on. What do you want me to do?"
"Ha, give him whatever he wants? Those trucks bought my son his love!!"
"Yaar, kahin se is road se nikal kar short cut nahin le sakatey kya? Mujhe jaldi airport pahunchana hai."
"kya boltey saab? Idar se kidarku jate. sab jahag se blocked hai. Nikalnaich muskhil hai."
His could feel his heart sinking. He had lost her.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gautam's and ishita's story had been like a movie. They both knew each other from school. Gautam could not remember from what time he had been friends with her. As far as he could remember she had always been with him. Was it love at first sight. He doesn't know. He could not remember when exactly he started feeling as if she is not just a friend but something more than that. Dammit!! He still did not know if she shared his feelings.
Gautam's father Mr. Singania was one of the richest industrialist in town. Gautam had always been in awe of his father. His mother had died when he was 5 and since then Mr. Singhania had been his father and mother. Though a busy man he had always tried to be there for his son when he needed him. Although Gautam was never satisfied with his dad, but he always knew he was trying hard. And he also knew that to his dad success and money were very important.
And this had been the problem between him and Ishita. Ishita was from a middle class family, her dad being a government employee. For all her good looks and manners, Ishita had no hunger to prove herself professionally which meant she never tried hard and ended up as a software professional in a small company. Now Mr. Singhania's expectations from his daughter-in-law were much more than that.
Before revealing his heart's feelings Gautam wanted to make sure his dad would approve of Ishita. His worst fears came true when his dad simply put his foot down on the issue. Ishita did not deserve to be in their family.
"How could you even think of her in such a way, Gautam? Look at her family and look at us. Our status is no match for them"
"Dad! try to understand me. I love her."
"Some day you will realise son that all these feelings come to nothing. They are worthless in real life. Money and status are the most important things, and I am trying to get a girl for you who would bring both of them in abundance to our family"
"Someday you will realise how wrong are you? You have been blinded by money's power. Love stands over everything. Your money can buy many material things but can never buy love."
"See, lets stop all this. You wanted to know what I feel about Ishita and I have told you that. Rest is upto you."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
His father's strong denial weakened Gautam. He thought about this for a long time. He could not talk to Ishita cause he could not stand in front of her without expressing his feelings. And as hard as he tried he could not go against his dad's wishes. He was getting torn in this situation of indecisiveness.
But all changed the day Ishita was to leave. He made up his mind. Heart won over head. Love over money and status. And he decided to tell everything to Ishita and stop her from going away from him. All the events from past two weeks were running though his mind but when he looked around, nothing had changed. His taxi was not moving. He got desparate. He looked at watch and realised it was the time for Ishita's flight. He had lost her forever. And he sat in the taxi weeping and waited for the traffic to clear up so that he could go home.
"Hey, do you know what? I missed my flight. I got caughtup in this stupid traffic jam and now shall have to wait till tomorrow for next flight. I reached home and realised you had called me up. whats up with you yaar..where have you been..did not want to see me before I leave?? "
*********************************************************************************
"Sir, heard about your son's engagement!! congratulations.."
"Yeah, yeah thanks...you know young generation. Can not walk two steps in real life and think they understand what love is. But thats all right, after all he is my son."
"Sir, the travel agent had called. He is demanding twice the charge saying you used up the trucks for double the time of what he had agreed on. What do you want me to do?"
"Ha, give him whatever he wants? Those trucks bought my son his love!!"
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Non-representation
Hmm..so this is going to be a boring post..but it will raise a few questions regarding the bill passed by Lok sabha to have reservations for OBCs in institutes of higher education.
So how long exactly did it take for these politicains to pass this bill..some months..
Okay..how long have you guys been hearing about a women quota bill ?? I have sure been hearing about it for ages....Can you think of a reason why it is taking so long to pass..yes because it directly affects these politicains..many of them are sure to lose their main source of income if this bill is passed as they themselves will be out of Lok Sabha...seriously this is a case of democracy being hijacked by a group a old farts who have taken complete control of our democracy..
Next question....what percentage of population over 18 is under 25?? I havent tried to find out but since India's median age is 24, I suspect it is a huge percentage..And how many elected representatives are below 25..I dont know of any?? Guys we are the non-representated section of the society..the most neglected ones..
And this exactly is the reason why this bill has passed so easily and this issue has been handled so recklessly because the people who are most affected by it are not representated in the parliament!!
So how long exactly did it take for these politicains to pass this bill..some months..
Okay..how long have you guys been hearing about a women quota bill ?? I have sure been hearing about it for ages....Can you think of a reason why it is taking so long to pass..yes because it directly affects these politicains..many of them are sure to lose their main source of income if this bill is passed as they themselves will be out of Lok Sabha...seriously this is a case of democracy being hijacked by a group a old farts who have taken complete control of our democracy..
Next question....what percentage of population over 18 is under 25?? I havent tried to find out but since India's median age is 24, I suspect it is a huge percentage..And how many elected representatives are below 25..I dont know of any?? Guys we are the non-representated section of the society..the most neglected ones..
And this exactly is the reason why this bill has passed so easily and this issue has been handled so recklessly because the people who are most affected by it are not representated in the parliament!!
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Is this war really against terrorism or for it?
When the leaders of many countries gathered recently for a meeting to increase cooperation among states to fight against terrorism, they ran into a big problem -they could not agree on the definition of "who is a terrorist?". As is true about life someone's hero is always someone's villian.
Anyways presently the west defines terrorists as the Islamic Jihadis. And war against terrorism is defined as war in Afganistan and Iraq, trying to exterminate the islamist extremist. But I would say it is these sort of wars that create more terrorists. These wars not only lead to hatred against the west in the young minds because of all the destruction caused but also creates more people who have lost everything in their life - parents, children, house, property, happiness. It is these sort of people who have nothing to lose who are most dangerous. The seeds of rise in suicide attacks can be traced back to these wars. Closely inspected these wars are actually not against terrorism but are supporting it by churning out more probable terrorists.
Just look at the present scenario between Israel and Lebanon. Just after Hizbollah had kidnapped two Israeli soldiers a survey showed majority of Lebanese condemming Hizbollah. One month, thousands of dead Lebanese, several bombed cities and a complete shutdown of economy later another survey states, dont be surprised, a majority thinks Hizbollah did the right thing. Now Hizbollah has more prospective suicide bombers to recruit from. The faster these countries realise it the better it is for the world.
Just Imagine this scenario - if Lebanon had been as prosporous as Israel and if there would have been a huge economic dependence between the two, do you think this situation would have arose. I don't. Coz people on both sides would have had lot to lose in case of war and they would have forced the their countries against such a situation.
Similarly, I think a war against terrorism should be one that cuts of the supply chains of the terrorist organizations. Supply cahins not of arms and ammunition but of human resources, of 'having-lost-all-lets-destroy-others-kind-of -minds'. That can happen only if everybody in the world has somethign to lose that they love. As convoluted as it might sound the best for Israel should be to help Lebanon build its economy. Pump money into Lebanon so that there are more industries. Make it easier for Lebanese to come and look for work in Israel. I dont think many Lebanese would support Hizbollah's suicide bombings in Israel if many of their own loved ones stay across the border. Best for US would be to stop spending money trying to hunt Osama (and in process killing innocent people) and try to build the economy of Afganistan and Iraq.
One pakistani ex-military man was once qouted - "I think we should start a nuclear war with India. We would destroy them. India might bomb us but I am sure the amount of destruction they would cause would be less than the price of their nuclear bomb. Also, I am sick of seeing hungry children on our streets. It is better that they die instead of living such a life." So Indian government should also get a clue from this. And things are actually easier in here because there is already so much dependence across the two countries. So many people have relatives across the borders.
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This same logic scaled down to within cities can give you a good idea that rise in crime in cities shows a huge correlation with socio-economic disparity. There has been a increase in incidence of crime in bangalore in India and I would put it down to the large influx of people into the city looking for jobs but actually not getting it. In hyderabad police are surprised at the rise in percentage of educated people in crime. Reason: There are particular jobs which pay much higher than others for same educational qualification leading to economic disparity. And hence to match there fellow graduates in living standards some people have resorted to crime. (Crime does pay well!!) Though it is difficult to suggest a good solution to this problem.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ps: I am just curious who are the persons from Omaha, Nebraska and Nellore , AP who check my blog very frequently. Would be nice if you guys could leave a comment or two so that I know who you are:).
Anyways presently the west defines terrorists as the Islamic Jihadis. And war against terrorism is defined as war in Afganistan and Iraq, trying to exterminate the islamist extremist. But I would say it is these sort of wars that create more terrorists. These wars not only lead to hatred against the west in the young minds because of all the destruction caused but also creates more people who have lost everything in their life - parents, children, house, property, happiness. It is these sort of people who have nothing to lose who are most dangerous. The seeds of rise in suicide attacks can be traced back to these wars. Closely inspected these wars are actually not against terrorism but are supporting it by churning out more probable terrorists.
Just look at the present scenario between Israel and Lebanon. Just after Hizbollah had kidnapped two Israeli soldiers a survey showed majority of Lebanese condemming Hizbollah. One month, thousands of dead Lebanese, several bombed cities and a complete shutdown of economy later another survey states, dont be surprised, a majority thinks Hizbollah did the right thing. Now Hizbollah has more prospective suicide bombers to recruit from. The faster these countries realise it the better it is for the world.
Just Imagine this scenario - if Lebanon had been as prosporous as Israel and if there would have been a huge economic dependence between the two, do you think this situation would have arose. I don't. Coz people on both sides would have had lot to lose in case of war and they would have forced the their countries against such a situation.
Similarly, I think a war against terrorism should be one that cuts of the supply chains of the terrorist organizations. Supply cahins not of arms and ammunition but of human resources, of 'having-lost-all-lets-destroy-others-kind-of -minds'. That can happen only if everybody in the world has somethign to lose that they love. As convoluted as it might sound the best for Israel should be to help Lebanon build its economy. Pump money into Lebanon so that there are more industries. Make it easier for Lebanese to come and look for work in Israel. I dont think many Lebanese would support Hizbollah's suicide bombings in Israel if many of their own loved ones stay across the border. Best for US would be to stop spending money trying to hunt Osama (and in process killing innocent people) and try to build the economy of Afganistan and Iraq.
One pakistani ex-military man was once qouted - "I think we should start a nuclear war with India. We would destroy them. India might bomb us but I am sure the amount of destruction they would cause would be less than the price of their nuclear bomb. Also, I am sick of seeing hungry children on our streets. It is better that they die instead of living such a life." So Indian government should also get a clue from this. And things are actually easier in here because there is already so much dependence across the two countries. So many people have relatives across the borders.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This same logic scaled down to within cities can give you a good idea that rise in crime in cities shows a huge correlation with socio-economic disparity. There has been a increase in incidence of crime in bangalore in India and I would put it down to the large influx of people into the city looking for jobs but actually not getting it. In hyderabad police are surprised at the rise in percentage of educated people in crime. Reason: There are particular jobs which pay much higher than others for same educational qualification leading to economic disparity. And hence to match there fellow graduates in living standards some people have resorted to crime. (Crime does pay well!!) Though it is difficult to suggest a good solution to this problem.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ps: I am just curious who are the persons from Omaha, Nebraska and Nellore , AP who check my blog very frequently. Would be nice if you guys could leave a comment or two so that I know who you are:).
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Sister-$&#*#$
what is common in Ares-Pujuju, Shib-sekki, Mother- fucker, madar-chod ...
yes, they all mean someone who has sex with his own mother in different languages. As is my inquisitive self, I have always wondered about different swear words from different cultures. Other guys are also always interested in such topics. Everytime I have had exchange of such knowledge one thing has surprised all of them - "Behen-chod". Apparently this swear word exists only in our sub-continent.
Now After many such discussions obviously I began to think of reasons. One reason that actually sounds logical to me is that maybe they do not consider it as an insult. Isn't it quite reasonable that people would use as swear words, only things that actually are insulting and hurt the other person. Nobody gets insulted if you tell them -"wife-fucker". So, maybe Incest is not quite frowned upon in these cultures hence sister-fucker is not insulting and hence no swear word as such.
After Golu's comment I can think of a more logical reason. As he says that there is higher probability of insulting someone by saying "mother-fucker" as everyne has moms but few people do not have sisters. Now in India the probability of a guy having a sister is also very high. (rakhi fundaes) Hence the probability of you insulting someone with "sister-fucker" is also very high which leads to its more common usage.
Now all this was just a preview to what I actually wanted to jot down. It was another debate with the same labmate with whome I had a debate over accents.
LM: hey, you guys are pretty creative with your swear words.
Me: Now I still do not understand why sister-fucker is creative.
LM: Man!! it is not english.
Me: What?
LM: Yes, sister-fucker is just combination of two english words. But it means nothing.
Me: And mother-fucker!! what about that?
LM: That is an accepted english vocabulary. It is a slang and everybody understands it.
Me: You mean if I go around in US saying sister-fucker to people, they will not react!!!!
LM: Yes, they will look at you funny coz this word means nothing.
Me: Balls to you man..I am sure the word is pretty self explanatory.
LM: It is like say...ummm..ball-kicker. It is two english words and means someone who kicks balls. But it is not english as it is ambigous.
Me: I can bet with you that if I go asking on this road to all persons if they understand sister-fucker, allmost all will exactly know what I am speaking off. There will be no ambiguity that you are speaking off..
LM: I just know it is not english. It means nothing!!
Me: Okay, Indian subcontinent takes pride in giving english a new word - "Sister-fucker". If anybody does not understand what it means you can ask any Indian around you.
yes, they all mean someone who has sex with his own mother in different languages. As is my inquisitive self, I have always wondered about different swear words from different cultures. Other guys are also always interested in such topics. Everytime I have had exchange of such knowledge one thing has surprised all of them - "Behen-chod". Apparently this swear word exists only in our sub-continent.
Now After many such discussions obviously I began to think of reasons. One reason that actually sounds logical to me is that maybe they do not consider it as an insult. Isn't it quite reasonable that people would use as swear words, only things that actually are insulting and hurt the other person. Nobody gets insulted if you tell them -"wife-fucker". So, maybe Incest is not quite frowned upon in these cultures hence sister-fucker is not insulting and hence no swear word as such.
After Golu's comment I can think of a more logical reason. As he says that there is higher probability of insulting someone by saying "mother-fucker" as everyne has moms but few people do not have sisters. Now in India the probability of a guy having a sister is also very high. (rakhi fundaes) Hence the probability of you insulting someone with "sister-fucker" is also very high which leads to its more common usage.
Now all this was just a preview to what I actually wanted to jot down. It was another debate with the same labmate with whome I had a debate over accents.
LM: hey, you guys are pretty creative with your swear words.
Me: Now I still do not understand why sister-fucker is creative.
LM: Man!! it is not english.
Me: What?
LM: Yes, sister-fucker is just combination of two english words. But it means nothing.
Me: And mother-fucker!! what about that?
LM: That is an accepted english vocabulary. It is a slang and everybody understands it.
Me: You mean if I go around in US saying sister-fucker to people, they will not react!!!!
LM: Yes, they will look at you funny coz this word means nothing.
Me: Balls to you man..I am sure the word is pretty self explanatory.
LM: It is like say...ummm..ball-kicker. It is two english words and means someone who kicks balls. But it is not english as it is ambigous.
Me: I can bet with you that if I go asking on this road to all persons if they understand sister-fucker, allmost all will exactly know what I am speaking off. There will be no ambiguity that you are speaking off..
LM: I just know it is not english. It means nothing!!
Me: Okay, Indian subcontinent takes pride in giving english a new word - "Sister-fucker". If anybody does not understand what it means you can ask any Indian around you.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
travelogue
BWI - Neewark
The only thing I can say is do not fly US airways unless you realy like joy rides. I had resorted to ramramramram...maramaramaramara in between. The most jerky flight experience for me in those small aircrafts.
Neewark-Mumbai
Everytime I travel, I hope that this time my fate will be like SRK or Aamir or goddamn any hero and there will be a nice, beautiful, cute or MSR (golu's favorite type) next to me and my flight will be over in no time...I will spend the entire time talking to her...she will turn out to be a Oriya (I know it's far fetched, but if I were to dream why not dream for the most ideal situation!!)..We will exchange phone nubmers..baat aage badhegi and blah blah blah..
The important thing is this never happens and I end up cursing all the movie makers of the world..I enter the waiting area for my flight and in the entire space there was just one good looking girl (GLG)..now the probability of her sitting next to me is very acute (for your info Boeing 747 has 385 EC, 24 BC, and 12 first class seats...you can do the calculations...if not then you are intellectually not developed enough to be reading my blog!!)..Thats why I did not feel very bad when next to me, sat a fat dark gulti girl...I took out "A heart-breaking work of staggering genious" and started reading it..
The next few lines will describe situation in a Air India flight..
Guy 1: I can already see it is going to be a bad flight..I can not stand this smell..Air India sucks..
(The bathroom stinks..it did not help that I was on the row just next to bathroom)
Air plane announcement: Please remain seated, pull your chair to upright position, we are about to take off.
Many people still continue to open the over head luggage compartment, some are walking I do not know why?? May be they wanted to get out..the crew should have simply thrown them out but instead they went to each one of them and politely explained them the situation..after two three iterations everybody was seated and then the plane took off..
Air plane announcement: We are arriving at Paris. We have a 1.5 hours stopover here. The passengers who are with us till bombay are kindly asked to remain seated. Please do not use the toilet during this time as crew is coming up to clean it and the water pressure will be not there for some time for flushing.
As soon as the plane lands, people queue outside the toilets. As I was next to the toilet I was very scared. If flushing does not work I will have to deal with the smell. Any ways people use it..flush does not work. They have to call up people to fix it. The take off is delayed.
The guy next to me aptly put the whole situation in words.."If you ask an Indian not to think of Pink elephant, he will think of a nice pink elephant"..I dont know why he chose pink elephant but I agreed wit him.
The clean-up team which had come up to clean the plane was also pretty mad because people kept roaming around affecting their efficiency..It did not help that they did not know english..
After a long time (at least it seemed like a very very long time) the plane landed in Mumbai..Again everybody started taking off their stuff from the over head cabin before the plane had come to a halt...people were trying to get out as quickly as possible..In between there was this female cursing Indian mentality saying she should be allowed to leave first as she is with an infant..started praising How other air-lines take care of it..middle age whinning females are very irritating..
Any ways I get out and, whoa!! the GLG is standing right next to me..But from close up I saw that she is not that maal..I was happy that I actually did not go through the pain of calculating the probability of sitting next to me and it would have been worthless..
Bombay-Hyderabad
Very short flight..though it was delayed bt 50 minutes..But the most painful part of flight to India is the baggage claim..This was the third time and never has it taken less than an hour..there was a guy from Suadi Arabia, who was very frustated and kept saying in saudi arabia it takes only 5 mins..I want to be proud of India and being Indian but these things are kind of reality check..
The only satisfaying thing after all this is that I get home and have a nice cup of tea with my dad and we talk about my new born nephew who I am going to see this weekend or early next week..
The only thing I can say is do not fly US airways unless you realy like joy rides. I had resorted to ramramramram...maramaramaramara in between. The most jerky flight experience for me in those small aircrafts.
Neewark-Mumbai
Everytime I travel, I hope that this time my fate will be like SRK or Aamir or goddamn any hero and there will be a nice, beautiful, cute or MSR (golu's favorite type) next to me and my flight will be over in no time...I will spend the entire time talking to her...she will turn out to be a Oriya (I know it's far fetched, but if I were to dream why not dream for the most ideal situation!!)..We will exchange phone nubmers..baat aage badhegi and blah blah blah..
The important thing is this never happens and I end up cursing all the movie makers of the world..I enter the waiting area for my flight and in the entire space there was just one good looking girl (GLG)..now the probability of her sitting next to me is very acute (for your info Boeing 747 has 385 EC, 24 BC, and 12 first class seats...you can do the calculations...if not then you are intellectually not developed enough to be reading my blog!!)..Thats why I did not feel very bad when next to me, sat a fat dark gulti girl...I took out "A heart-breaking work of staggering genious" and started reading it..
The next few lines will describe situation in a Air India flight..
Guy 1: I can already see it is going to be a bad flight..I can not stand this smell..Air India sucks..
(The bathroom stinks..it did not help that I was on the row just next to bathroom)
Air plane announcement: Please remain seated, pull your chair to upright position, we are about to take off.
Many people still continue to open the over head luggage compartment, some are walking I do not know why?? May be they wanted to get out..the crew should have simply thrown them out but instead they went to each one of them and politely explained them the situation..after two three iterations everybody was seated and then the plane took off..
Air plane announcement: We are arriving at Paris. We have a 1.5 hours stopover here. The passengers who are with us till bombay are kindly asked to remain seated. Please do not use the toilet during this time as crew is coming up to clean it and the water pressure will be not there for some time for flushing.
As soon as the plane lands, people queue outside the toilets. As I was next to the toilet I was very scared. If flushing does not work I will have to deal with the smell. Any ways people use it..flush does not work. They have to call up people to fix it. The take off is delayed.
The guy next to me aptly put the whole situation in words.."If you ask an Indian not to think of Pink elephant, he will think of a nice pink elephant"..I dont know why he chose pink elephant but I agreed wit him.
The clean-up team which had come up to clean the plane was also pretty mad because people kept roaming around affecting their efficiency..It did not help that they did not know english..
After a long time (at least it seemed like a very very long time) the plane landed in Mumbai..Again everybody started taking off their stuff from the over head cabin before the plane had come to a halt...people were trying to get out as quickly as possible..In between there was this female cursing Indian mentality saying she should be allowed to leave first as she is with an infant..started praising How other air-lines take care of it..middle age whinning females are very irritating..
Any ways I get out and, whoa!! the GLG is standing right next to me..But from close up I saw that she is not that maal..I was happy that I actually did not go through the pain of calculating the probability of sitting next to me and it would have been worthless..
Bombay-Hyderabad
Very short flight..though it was delayed bt 50 minutes..But the most painful part of flight to India is the baggage claim..This was the third time and never has it taken less than an hour..there was a guy from Suadi Arabia, who was very frustated and kept saying in saudi arabia it takes only 5 mins..I want to be proud of India and being Indian but these things are kind of reality check..
The only satisfaying thing after all this is that I get home and have a nice cup of tea with my dad and we talk about my new born nephew who I am going to see this weekend or early next week..
Monday, July 17, 2006
Accent
I was having lunch with my labmate. We were having random converstaions with topics ranging from Iran's president, MRI, zidane head butting materazzi......asihwarya rai..It was then I mentioned to him how she had a strong american accent during the CBS interview and also added she has that while talking to indian reporters too and that pisses me off..
Suddenly my labmate's facial expression changed to the one that Joey has when he tries to multiply 13 with 11 or some numbers like that, basically you guys get me right..
LabMate: hang on..hang on..what did you say -- american accent!!
Me: Yes, the accent with which americans in general and you in particular speak.
LM: No man, I do not have an accent.
Me: Dude any creature who speaks has a language and an accent.
LM: No man..This is the reference accent. You can say some people have northen accent, some have southern but I have no accent.
Me: yes, exactly you have a general american accent.
LM(Now visibly irritated): No man, this is the way english is supposed to be spoken. You have an accent. An Indian accent.
Me: Yes, I have an accent and I do not see the need to change my accent according to some american's needs unless I am doing buissness with him/her and my interaction is necessary. Since I am in america, I put in extra effort to understand you and try to speak in a way that you guys can understand. If you were to be in India it will be otherway around.
LM: No man. This is the correct way of talking in english and you guys should try to speak like this instead of critisizing the lady who is trying her best to do the correct thing.
Me(Must have an utterly amazed and angry look): Shut up man. There is nothing called correct accent. Language consists of grammar and pronounication but not accent. Go and ask any linguist.
LM: Man!! you are getting too technical
Me: !@##$$%%%^^^
LM: Lets ask people around. I am sure everybody wants to speak english the way I speak. (cleverly not using the word accent!!) In Korea I am sure people will pay me to learn to speak english this way.
Me: Is english a main language in Korea.
LM: No.
Me: Now it makes sense. There is no english hence when they try to learn obviously they try to go for the most global accent(hats off to spectacular hollywood movies.).
LM: No man. I am sure Indians will also try to speak like this. If not they should start doing it. Americans define english.
Me(I must be shouting by now): Bullshit!! In that case only english people can say that they have the right accent and even they talk to each other saying you have yorkshire accent and stuff...never say you guys invented english. English was introduced to Indians before it existed here. And Indians learn to speak english from their childhood.
LM(Now completely at loss of words): You mean people talk english in daily lives in India.
Me(By now exhausted with excitment): Yes man. And thats why we have our own accent cause we speak like that from our childhood. We do not have to learn "how to speak english" from americans.
LM: man, whatever I do not have an accent. I define the reference accent as the most prevelant accent in the world. Something has to be the basis.
Me: You might be shooting yourself in your own foot. I am not sure but there might be more Indians speaking english than the population of americans who speak with your accent.
LM: fuck off man..you understand what I mean. Let me change the definition as the basis is the accent which is prevelant in highest percentage population of any country.
Me: First of all you just can not define things as you like. Second, again maybe australia or england beats you in that coz they have less immigrants.
LM: Thats it man. Our definitions are different. Both of us are correct in our own ways. We spend so much time debating such random topics.
Me: Yeah, We could not convince each other over such a trivial matter. Think about when countries have differences in opinions!!! Anyways man you should know that anybody who speaks any thing has to have a language and and accent. Go and ask any linguist.
LM:@@##$#$%$
I really get entertained debating with this labmate of mine. Do not make any conclusions regarding him just on the basis of this blog. He is a very nice guy at heart. The guilt conscience in me makes me write this as he has been very helpful to me in lab and here I am making fun of him.
Suddenly my labmate's facial expression changed to the one that Joey has when he tries to multiply 13 with 11 or some numbers like that, basically you guys get me right..
LabMate: hang on..hang on..what did you say -- american accent!!
Me: Yes, the accent with which americans in general and you in particular speak.
LM: No man, I do not have an accent.
Me: Dude any creature who speaks has a language and an accent.
LM: No man..This is the reference accent. You can say some people have northen accent, some have southern but I have no accent.
Me: yes, exactly you have a general american accent.
LM(Now visibly irritated): No man, this is the way english is supposed to be spoken. You have an accent. An Indian accent.
Me: Yes, I have an accent and I do not see the need to change my accent according to some american's needs unless I am doing buissness with him/her and my interaction is necessary. Since I am in america, I put in extra effort to understand you and try to speak in a way that you guys can understand. If you were to be in India it will be otherway around.
LM: No man. This is the correct way of talking in english and you guys should try to speak like this instead of critisizing the lady who is trying her best to do the correct thing.
Me(Must have an utterly amazed and angry look): Shut up man. There is nothing called correct accent. Language consists of grammar and pronounication but not accent. Go and ask any linguist.
LM: Man!! you are getting too technical
Me: !@##$$%%%^^^
LM: Lets ask people around. I am sure everybody wants to speak english the way I speak. (cleverly not using the word accent!!) In Korea I am sure people will pay me to learn to speak english this way.
Me: Is english a main language in Korea.
LM: No.
Me: Now it makes sense. There is no english hence when they try to learn obviously they try to go for the most global accent(hats off to spectacular hollywood movies.).
LM: No man. I am sure Indians will also try to speak like this. If not they should start doing it. Americans define english.
Me(I must be shouting by now): Bullshit!! In that case only english people can say that they have the right accent and even they talk to each other saying you have yorkshire accent and stuff...never say you guys invented english. English was introduced to Indians before it existed here. And Indians learn to speak english from their childhood.
LM(Now completely at loss of words): You mean people talk english in daily lives in India.
Me(By now exhausted with excitment): Yes man. And thats why we have our own accent cause we speak like that from our childhood. We do not have to learn "how to speak english" from americans.
LM: man, whatever I do not have an accent. I define the reference accent as the most prevelant accent in the world. Something has to be the basis.
Me: You might be shooting yourself in your own foot. I am not sure but there might be more Indians speaking english than the population of americans who speak with your accent.
LM: fuck off man..you understand what I mean. Let me change the definition as the basis is the accent which is prevelant in highest percentage population of any country.
Me: First of all you just can not define things as you like. Second, again maybe australia or england beats you in that coz they have less immigrants.
LM: Thats it man. Our definitions are different. Both of us are correct in our own ways. We spend so much time debating such random topics.
Me: Yeah, We could not convince each other over such a trivial matter. Think about when countries have differences in opinions!!! Anyways man you should know that anybody who speaks any thing has to have a language and and accent. Go and ask any linguist.
LM:@@##$#$%$
I really get entertained debating with this labmate of mine. Do not make any conclusions regarding him just on the basis of this blog. He is a very nice guy at heart. The guilt conscience in me makes me write this as he has been very helpful to me in lab and here I am making fun of him.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Is necessity really the mother of invention??
During my trip to India I read the book "Guns, Germs and Steel". A very interesting book which analyzes why it was europeans who conquered the whole world rather than the other way around. One of the most interesting arguements in the book was about how inventions are more due to environment rather than just the random genious of a person. Also how there have been many inventions which actually were not made for the specific purposes they are used now a days.(steam engines were not made because all of a sudden rail transport became necessary!!) For example we always learn about how Edison invented incadescent lamp but do you know there were 18 patents on it already. Not taking any thing away from Edison, he made a tiny improvement. The time of invention is very important. When Edison invented it in US electricity distribution was also just picking up hence his invention became a house hold thing. Hence they quickly found a use for it rahter than some necessity leading to the invention. I saw a immediate parallel in the market of online search engines. There was a search engine before google came but at that time net itself was not big enough to support such things. Later google came and we know what it has done to us. So big inventions are actually small additions to existing systems and somehow find a ready application. This process is fecilitated by good communication among competition which happened to be "just right" in europe during the 17-19th century.
Interestingly there are examples when very big inventions died out because there were no use quickly found for them. The most surprising casuality happens to be "writting". Writting came into Roman civilization and became extinct because they apparantely found no use for it. :) It had to be invented again :)). Also the earliest printing press excavated was from some BC. Though it was a very primitive one used to print on the tablets but still the idea was right. But it again died down because writting and reading was prevelant among a select top tier of society and it was mostly used to keeping records and hence no need for many copies.
Interestingly there are examples when very big inventions died out because there were no use quickly found for them. The most surprising casuality happens to be "writting". Writting came into Roman civilization and became extinct because they apparantely found no use for it. :) It had to be invented again :)). Also the earliest printing press excavated was from some BC. Though it was a very primitive one used to print on the tablets but still the idea was right. But it again died down because writting and reading was prevelant among a select top tier of society and it was mostly used to keeping records and hence no need for many copies.
Friday, April 21, 2006
In Da Club main Jayein
This is a pretty common thing to dismiss remixes as no-music. The general thinking is that DJs do nothing but take nice old songs and just put dancing beats into them. Maybe one reason for all this is that every Tom-Dick and Harry is coming out with his remix album and the few good ones get lost in somewhere.
I always liked remixed music. Few of my favorites being "Dil kya kare" and "Bahon mein chale aao" by Instant karma. But as with anything untill you actually do it, you never realise how much skill and hard work goes into these things. So I went ahead and made one myself!! ( yeah ,yeah.. I can already hear- here goes another Tom..)
It was not me alone and one of my experienced friends "Kitty"out here at Hopkins helped me out. (help => He did it as I watched!!) First you have to choose two songs which can be remixed. Then you have to figure out exactly which parts of the song can actually be mixed. Chalk out the parts where you think the beats can never match. Then increasing and decreasing of tempo to match the two songs. We used garage band software to do all the DJing. My friend always wanted to remix the "Kissi Disco mein jayein" song and I suggested "In Da Club" to him. After listening to them once we made up our mind - "In Da Club Main Jayein" was to become reality. After some 4 -5 hours of playing, mixing and matching different parts, we had this version. It was so much fun and also I got to appreciate the art of DJing even more.
I always liked remixed music. Few of my favorites being "Dil kya kare" and "Bahon mein chale aao" by Instant karma. But as with anything untill you actually do it, you never realise how much skill and hard work goes into these things. So I went ahead and made one myself!! ( yeah ,yeah.. I can already hear- here goes another Tom..)
It was not me alone and one of my experienced friends "Kitty"out here at Hopkins helped me out. (help => He did it as I watched!!) First you have to choose two songs which can be remixed. Then you have to figure out exactly which parts of the song can actually be mixed. Chalk out the parts where you think the beats can never match. Then increasing and decreasing of tempo to match the two songs. We used garage band software to do all the DJing. My friend always wanted to remix the "Kissi Disco mein jayein" song and I suggested "In Da Club" to him. After listening to them once we made up our mind - "In Da Club Main Jayein" was to become reality. After some 4 -5 hours of playing, mixing and matching different parts, we had this version. It was so much fun and also I got to appreciate the art of DJing even more.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Does this help anybody?
Recently the HRD ministry in India made known its desire to have 49% reservation for ST and SCs in institutions of higher education (IOHE). It came as a shock to me and I can not understand how can anybody in the world justify this. So I am going ahead and putting down logical arguements against the ones used my the goverment while comming up with such policies.
1) Education is important for everybody and since ST and SCs figure with lowest literacy percentage they should be given reservation.
Education is important for everybody hence make sure there are more schools so that everybody can get free education. IOHEs should intake students solely based on merit.
2) The higher cast are monetarily better off hence have other resources to benifit from while preparing for exams for these insitutions.
Now this is one thing that comes up very regularly. I strongly oppose this statement. First, Its not always that higher cast people are monetarily better off and have better resources. If you want to help the poorer people act at a more basic level i.e. have reservations for economically backward groups (EBG) and not socially backward (SBG) ones.
Infact, I can go ahead and say that if you do have to give reservations then it should be for people coming from villages. This is so because I feel its not money but the resources which affect preparation to enter into these IOHE. And even the the EBGs in cities have access to better resources than rich people in village.
But inspite of all this I feel these people should be helped with resources and money rather than just giving reservation to them. Take all the groups of the scoiety to a level ground and after that it should be competition. The way its being done now, the country gets worser engineers, doctors and researchers and the brighter ones get bogged down. I would say it also affects the brighter students among the reserved castes. I am sure they would not work as hard if they know their chances of getting into these institutions is very high.
** Also I would argue that its a general trend that ST and SCs are always economically more backward. Actually Ithink its funny for a such a statement to arise in a country like India where Ambani's, Premiji's and Tata's exist. Wow!! not one of them happens to be from higher cast.
3) Even after 60 years of reservation ST and SCs are still backward communities hence percentage of reservations should increase.
I will try to argue against this with two points. One, actually if you see there is a class of SCs and STs who have benifitted from these policies more than other. Take the case of the first generation who benifitted from these policies, the family has come up both socially and economicaly but the children still use these policies and are benifitted a great deal.
So within the reserved castes there is skewed competition. Obviously the huge percentage of reserved catogories are still backward because they have to compete with the developed half of their own for the reserved seats and no doubt they lose. So the ones who have benifitted from these policies long back are continuing to exploit it whereas the new ones can do nothing but just watch and ponder why even after so many steps by their lovable government they are still backward.
****I would have no problems with these reservation plicies if there is an added clause that if one or two generations of a family has benifitted from these pollicies then they are no longer eligible for reserved seats and jobs.
Second arguement is - yes, if something has not worked for 50 years dont you think that may be because there is inherently a flaw in the policy or its implementation and we should try to find that out rahter than still conitnuing it.
I dont know about all of you out there but I seriously get very upset with the whole thing beacuase I can not voice my opinions in a valid forum where somebody hears to them and answers me. Please leave comments about this situation, write your own opinions and may be later these can be compiled and sent over to some better forum.
1) Education is important for everybody and since ST and SCs figure with lowest literacy percentage they should be given reservation.
Education is important for everybody hence make sure there are more schools so that everybody can get free education. IOHEs should intake students solely based on merit.
2) The higher cast are monetarily better off hence have other resources to benifit from while preparing for exams for these insitutions.
Now this is one thing that comes up very regularly. I strongly oppose this statement. First, Its not always that higher cast people are monetarily better off and have better resources. If you want to help the poorer people act at a more basic level i.e. have reservations for economically backward groups (EBG) and not socially backward (SBG) ones.
Infact, I can go ahead and say that if you do have to give reservations then it should be for people coming from villages. This is so because I feel its not money but the resources which affect preparation to enter into these IOHE. And even the the EBGs in cities have access to better resources than rich people in village.
But inspite of all this I feel these people should be helped with resources and money rather than just giving reservation to them. Take all the groups of the scoiety to a level ground and after that it should be competition. The way its being done now, the country gets worser engineers, doctors and researchers and the brighter ones get bogged down. I would say it also affects the brighter students among the reserved castes. I am sure they would not work as hard if they know their chances of getting into these institutions is very high.
** Also I would argue that its a general trend that ST and SCs are always economically more backward. Actually Ithink its funny for a such a statement to arise in a country like India where Ambani's, Premiji's and Tata's exist. Wow!! not one of them happens to be from higher cast.
3) Even after 60 years of reservation ST and SCs are still backward communities hence percentage of reservations should increase.
I will try to argue against this with two points. One, actually if you see there is a class of SCs and STs who have benifitted from these policies more than other. Take the case of the first generation who benifitted from these policies, the family has come up both socially and economicaly but the children still use these policies and are benifitted a great deal.
So within the reserved castes there is skewed competition. Obviously the huge percentage of reserved catogories are still backward because they have to compete with the developed half of their own for the reserved seats and no doubt they lose. So the ones who have benifitted from these policies long back are continuing to exploit it whereas the new ones can do nothing but just watch and ponder why even after so many steps by their lovable government they are still backward.
****I would have no problems with these reservation plicies if there is an added clause that if one or two generations of a family has benifitted from these pollicies then they are no longer eligible for reserved seats and jobs.
Second arguement is - yes, if something has not worked for 50 years dont you think that may be because there is inherently a flaw in the policy or its implementation and we should try to find that out rahter than still conitnuing it.
I dont know about all of you out there but I seriously get very upset with the whole thing beacuase I can not voice my opinions in a valid forum where somebody hears to them and answers me. Please leave comments about this situation, write your own opinions and may be later these can be compiled and sent over to some better forum.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
"Hey, nobody died!! "
I am talking about the last test match between India and England at Mumbai. Yes, Dravid chooses to ball first, Tendulkar failed twice, Dhoni played what may be termed as the worst possible shot in that situation, and the famed Indian batting order collapsed in 15 overs after lunch.
The Indian fans and journalists take out Indian cricket team's obitury. Sachin Tendulkar was booed!! And such a hue and cry was raised all for a small game of cricket and that too a not so significant match....
Just to put things in perspective, lets go back to WC 1999. Yes, I am going to talk about the greatest ODI match ever played. The semi-finals between Australia and SA. Lance Klusener who had till then played as if he is GOD took SA to all but one run from victory when Donald was run out going for the winning run. Match was tied and SA was out of the World Cup in which arguably they had been the best team. Forget all that, there was one person who didnt deserve to be on any losing side that world cup - Lance Klusener. And in the post match conferance when journalists were waiting for some philosophical statement from the dejected Lance guess what he says - "Hey, nobody died!!"
I guess the fans also should realise it is after all just a game. Enjoy it while it goes on and then forget about it.
The Indian fans and journalists take out Indian cricket team's obitury. Sachin Tendulkar was booed!! And such a hue and cry was raised all for a small game of cricket and that too a not so significant match....
Just to put things in perspective, lets go back to WC 1999. Yes, I am going to talk about the greatest ODI match ever played. The semi-finals between Australia and SA. Lance Klusener who had till then played as if he is GOD took SA to all but one run from victory when Donald was run out going for the winning run. Match was tied and SA was out of the World Cup in which arguably they had been the best team. Forget all that, there was one person who didnt deserve to be on any losing side that world cup - Lance Klusener. And in the post match conferance when journalists were waiting for some philosophical statement from the dejected Lance guess what he says - "Hey, nobody died!!"
I guess the fans also should realise it is after all just a game. Enjoy it while it goes on and then forget about it.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
What a relief
I was in india for close to a month and hadn’t watched a hindi movie in theater. It was a relief that at last I watched two movies last week and was happy to see the kind of hindi movies being made.
Rang de basanti…I think a must watch…a combination of dil chahata hai, the legend of bhagat singh and Yuva..so u guys can imagine..There are some hard hitting and thought provking lines in this movie. After watching such movies you feel like stop cribbing and rather than wanting a change, be the change that you want to see in society around you.
The other movie that I saw was Zinda..The thing I liked about the movie is it’s originality and very unpredictable twists. Also the casting was great with Sanjat Dutt and John Abraham fitting their characters very well.
Friday, January 27, 2006
yeh duniya ek rangmanch hai....
Actor I. S. Johar was passing through the town of bargarh (Orissa) in his car when he was abruptly stopped by this man who seemed to jump straight out of 18th or 17th century. Dressed in princely clothes he stopped the car and asked Mr. Mukherjee to pay 1000 gold coins as penalty for trespassing through his territory. As large men looking like the King's bodyguards gathered around the car Mr. Mukherjee panicked and started pleading his case. When some of the city residents saw this they started laughing and one of them explained to Mr. Mukherjee how he was now a character of the play being organized in the town.
Welcome to "Dhanu Yatra". It is a festival celebrated over 11 days where a common man takes over the role of the great demon king Kansa. He rules the city (Bargarh becomes Mathura) for all these days and can call upon anyone onto his court during this time. (The actor knows his limitations though) There is no line written as he just wanders in the town and punishes and rewards people based on his wisdom. A Huge court is erected for his evening court sessions with his ministers where he discusses state affairs. He calls upon many well known personalities who are then placed as accused or guests in his court. The evening I attended the festival, the unlucky ones were two politician brothers- one is the MP and one is the MLA of Sambalpur. They were brought on elephant and it was funny to see their uncomfortable faces.
A nearby village is turned into Gopapur, where Little Krishna does all his Bal-Leela. The festival ends with the annihilation of the demon king in the hands of Krishna. That day the whole city mourns the death of their king and infact it falls on a day which is celebrated all over India but this city weeps. Traditions are sometimes so amazing. I dont think any other thing comes close to the famous lines from movie anand - "yeh duniya ek rangmanch hai aur hum sab iski kathputaliyan!"
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