Tsunami Support

I'll not write much about the Tsunami since most of you know about it. All I can say is it needs your help and contribute as much as you can towards helping the people try to put their lives back together.

I personally chose AID India to send my money to since they have been great in disbursing the funds immediately. You can contribute to them at http://survivors.aidindia.org.

If you prefer to contribute to other organisations, here is a bunch of them:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1229/p10s01-usgn.html
http://www.bapscare.org/mediacenter/announcements/2004/tsunamireliefwork.htm
https://www.aidindia.org/aidadmin/DonateToRRF.jsp
http://www.idrf.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Hnnews&file=article&sid=157
https://www.myhelpinghands.org/tsunami.asp
http://www.ashanet.org/index.php?page=tsunami-relief
http://www.nextgenfoundation.org
http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,5595-1-2910-1,00.html
http://www.indianredcross.org/donation.html
http://www.seedsindia.org
http://pay.hindu.com/thrfpay/thrfpay.jsp
http://www.redcross.org or call 800-HELP-NOW
http://www.americares.org or call 800-486-4357
http://www.doctors-withoutborders.org or call 888-392-0392
http://www.mercycorps.org or call 888-256-1900
http://www.savethechildren.org or call 800-728-3843
http://www.careusa.org or call 800-521-2273

Also you can check the local and online news sources for other means to help. The following blog has some additional info on the Tsunami relief efforts.

http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/

Just remember, you can make a difference.

Goodbye Texas !

I am leaving the Lone Star state to head towards greener and definitely much colder pastures of Pennsylvania. It has been a fun time in Texas. I arrived in summer when the heat was definitely unbearable but winter has been a very nice time indeed. Chill but not really depressingly cold. Since Irving has been my only experience away from the northeast, it would be interesting to compare the two regions.

Texas is wide, vast and huge - in all aspects. The roads are much wider with a lot of lanes, definitely much more than say the PA Turnpike or most areas of I-95. While there are a lot of people in TX too, the prevalence of more strip-malls mean that there is a greater sense of space and fewer people here than in Boston on NY where there are a lot of people everywhere. The street lights system is definitely a big plus in Irving while I sorely groped for light in the streets of eastern PA. Weather wise, the Texas area definitely gets pretty hot in summer and thats in Dallas. I cant imagine how hot it can get in San Antonio or Houston. But then the winters are definitely bearable. The same cannot be said for Philly or Boston where cold assumes a whole diffrerent meaning in January and February. Also, the year-long presence of an amazing Farmers Market is awesome for a fruit lover like me.

On the flip side, a weekend in Dallas offers very little option for the travel enthusiast. Not the same in the Northeast. From Philly for example, NYC is 2 hours, Boston is 5 hours, the Niagara and Toronto is 7 hours, Baltimore is 2 hours and Washington D.C is all of three hours. And each of these places require atleast 2-3 weekend trips to truly see everything that it has to offer. From Dallas, its Austin, Houston and San Antonio, again and again. I hear that Arkansas can be really beautiful in Fall but that is still all of 5 hours drive from here. I wish there were more things to do. Downtown Dallas when compared to the downtowns on Boston, NYC or Philly is really non-existent.

All said, it has been a great experience, the last 7 months in Dallas, TX. I have managed to enjoy the best of what Texas has to offer and hope to be back someday to visit the places I couldnt this time over-Houston, Corpus Christi and many more !

Till then, its sayonara Texas !

The Protocol of gifting

Well, its that time of the year when the roads are clogged and the malls buzzing with activity. Tensions are running high and people are making sure their gift lists are all inclusive of their near and dear, not to mention the "important" ones. I figured what better to write about than the whole protocol of gifting. While I dont celebrate Christmas, in India we do have Diwali where people exchange stuff but at a totally different scale. Its more of homemade sweets and new dresses and less of having to buy things thoughtfully for one and all.

I have asked a few friends of mine as to why there is so much importance attached to gifting during Christmas and well, not many had an answer. They said they were doing it because they have been doing it all their life and their parents did it and so on. Here is an interesting "Christian" article on why people give gifts on Christmas. I am not convinced. Its nice to give and receive gifts, always. But is there a reason why its done at this time of the year ?. Or is it one of the ways corporate America gets to sell its products worth billions to the masses with a reason to boot ?

Many of my male friends complain about having to go through the rigors of buying gifts and that it tires and bores them to no end. Not to mention the bloated credit card bills. If this is indeed the attitude of many, why do it for the sake of doing it? Isnt it the spirit of giving that matters and not the gift itself. As O.Henry so beautifully wrote in his short story, "The Gift of the Magi", isnt it really in the spirit of things to want to give rather than have to give ?

So what if they kissed ?

The latest big thing to hit the desi tabloids after the Delhi Public School MMS scandal is the so called "public kiss" shared by Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapur. Lots of space has been used for this big kiss that I figured I gotta blog it. If you have'nt been following the story here is a link to it.

As a response to the photo article, Kareena and Shahid have denied that it was them. In addition, they have slapped a Rs. 20 crore lawsuit on the publishers of Mid day. Kareena has also claimed that she would "fight for her dignity". C'mon folks, who are we kidding here ?

Firstly, I think the issue has been totally blown out of proportion. Whats in a kiss ? She likes him. He likes her. So they kiss. I dont see any problem with that. If Mid Day publishes the photo, Id see Kareena feeling bad about it but suing them for it?. Thats weird. I mean, this is the same Kareena who can professionally strip to her underwear for movies and kiss and cuddle and what not "on screen". Now if the same person does it in real life, whats the big deal with it. The Indian public for long has had this really hypocritical view of things. While sex in all its glory shall be beamed in the various music video channels and movies after movies claiming to show "not porn" but the greatness of the Indian woman coming as a spurt, why do we still have issues with someone kissing in public. You wanna see it, see it. You think its gross, turn your face away. Simple as that. Why make such a big deal. This whole idea of keeping sex in the bedroom doesnt work anymore. Period. Learn to handle it maturely. Not like a convent school kid !

And Kareena and Shahid, grow up. If someone caught pics of you smooching, does it matter. Really ? Isnt it all too much to make a hue and "cry" about it. Isnt it time to either get a room to smooch in private if thats what you want or get over it and move on with your life. Isnt it how things should be?

And finally...

Finally its over. The Laci Peterson case is history. The California jury has pronounced its verdict. Its death for Scott and relief for millions of Americans. I thought people in this country had a lot to do other than follow a routine murder trial in some corner of the country. Boy was a wrong.

The Laci Peterson case has consumed reams and reams of paper, sites after sites on the web (last Google count was 295,000) and hours of discussion on the television networks. I can personally remember not less than 4 Larry King Live episodes dedicated to the topic. C'mon folks, dont we have better things to do with our time. There are so many things happening around the world that needs our attention. But we try to spend our time in what is really the biggest soap opera for everyone concerned other than Scott Peterson and the families of the parties concerned. My condolences to the Laci Peterson family but I definitely think they would have preferred a much peaceful aftermath to their daughter's horrific death than the abundance of media attention that has been thrown at them.

Are we really so gossip and tabloid crazy that we focus on such otherwise trivial murder cases with this amount of public scrutiny ? Dont we really have anything else to read, write or think of?

The Ego Thing!

Well, I definitely debated a lot before raking up this issue. For one, it is something I havent found an answer for myself, yet. Also, it is a trifle dicey for a lot of friends and relatives but what the heck!

When I left for the US to study and make it big, my argument to the folks who wanted me to stay back was that there werent enough "good" jobs in India for my liking. By good I was referring to R&D and development positions in the telecommunications industry. I was true then and my argument held. The year was 2000.

But things changed, albeit dramatically in the next few years. Companies started moving their work,lock, stock and moneyed barrels to India and it all kept moving. Meanwhile I had completed my Masters and was starting to look for jobs. As luck would have it I got a good position working on a 3G protocol stack development project and was happy. But I was alarmed to know that there were a few hundred if not more people, doing the same work in India. The year was 2002.

Its 2004 now and I have since then changed jobs or rather clients, twice. The last two jobs are heavily testing oriented and while they have been pretty interesting and cutting edge, they are no different from the jobs in India. In fact in the last one year, I have had interview calls in India for extremely exciting, cutting edge wireless positions. Somehow I am unable to let go of my American dream of 2000. Why?

Are we, the Indians in America, or atleast a vast majority of us, living a lie ? Are we really doing jobs that are so great, they arent available or open to us at home ? For me, I think its an ego thing. I love my life here. I admit I miss my family and friends. But the independence and standard of living I get here is good enough for me to not want to go back. Those do make good reasons but isnt that different from what we came here for?. I am still soul searching on that one.

Do you have it in you?

I have put down some of the key things that an Indian male needs to know and follow to survive two or three days weddings in India. While the list might be more applicable to south Indian weddings, it wouldnt hurt to read em anyways.

1. Be prepared to endure long nights and early mornings. If you are a coffee drinker, great. Else for all non-coffee folks like me, better get onto something that'll keep you awake. Grad students, rejoice. Its back to semester end project submission days where sleep was a precious quantity, rare and much valued and the owls retired to bed earlier than you did.

2. Learn to smile and keep it plastered on your face for hours together. You are going to have to smile so much, you'll probably stop smiling for the rest of life.

3. Make sure you have plain-glasses handy if you dont already wear glasses. The ritual smoke is going to fill your eyes and all others that can see or feel with a hazy feeling for the rest of the day. And yes, it hurts and irritates like crazy. I recommend a small bottle of Visine in your kitbag.

4. Think four times before choosing any pant or shirt that is light in color for your wedding related procedures. Trust me, its going to get stained and soiled and you dont want your hard-earned dollars and meticulously chosen shirt or pant condemned to the bottom of your closet for the rest of your life. Khakis are a strict no-no.

5. Make sure you are seen as a world-savvy individual who is street smart and knowledgeable. Else you be prepared for "The Talk". For the record, I didnt get one :)

6. Take some memory pills with you. You are going to be subjected to a never-ending stream of "Do you remember me ?" routine and its inhuman to remember so many people.

7. Start visiting the gym a few months in advance of your wedding. A soft and gentle person is well received, not a soft body with a *lot* of flesh all over. If you are a person on the heavier side, it still doesnt hurt firming up your body. You can then pass off with the "Mappilai is so chubby and cute" comment.

8. Learn to do the "Sample but dont eat" thing. You are going to be pummeled with food from all directions and its simply not possible to say No. Added to which is the nausea and tiredness you are going to encounter during the wedding, its not possible to really eat everything. For once, even too little of something is not too good. So learn the art of sampling (taking the food item to your tongue is considered sampling here) and resisting the urge to eat like you normally would. It helps, trust me. And yeah, the rest room even if clean and close to your living quarters is going to get messy and pretty much unreachable as the marriage procedures hit their peak.

9. Do not drink a lot of water. As I noted in the previous line, rest rooms are suddenly going to disappear or become inaccesible. Keep yourself hydrated but not too much.

10. Make sure you say "No" to gifts and presents in your wedding invitation itself. Or be prepared for 20 clocks and 100 Ganesha idols. Any takers ?

11. Concoct a nice story to describe your job. A standard software engineer doesnt work anymore. There are already enough and more out there. And yes, have an answer handy as to why you are not working in Bangalore or Chennai but in the US. The oldies are going to keep asking you to come back home and rightly so.

12. Finally, the worst of them all. Be prepared to watch all the beautiful girls in the wedding and realising the enormity of the situation- They are off-limits !!!. Its all over,gentlemen. Time to hang the boots.

Sapthapadi - The seven steps of life.More photos soon !  

Life in the crowded slow lane

I just returned from a fantastic trip to India and boy, was it fun ! Everytime I head home its a great few weeks of meeting umpteen relatives and eating by the cartloads and meeting old friends and spending time just talking with all and sundry. This time the trip was even more special because I had decided to hang up my bachelor boots and get married. So it was twice the number of relatives(old and new) and much more eating, not to mention a whole lot of travelling. It was a whirlwind trip where I barely got to spend time at home but was just moving from place to place. India has changed quite a bit and it was fun.

One thing that stuck me as soon as I landed inIndia is the fact that there is more money changing hands and there are much more middle and upper class people than there were before. Prices of essential items have shot up and the luxury brands of the world whichin the past, one could either drool at, or travel abroad and pay ridiculous amounts of import duty to own, are now easily available in most metros. Chennai has much more upscale shops and many more buyers but the place refuses to get cleaned up. This year the monsoons have been unusually very active and the roads were all damaged and slushy. How I wish the tax revenue is ploughed back into improving the infrastructure in an efficient manner :(

Coimbatore, my hometown has way more two-wheelers than before and also much more upscale hangouts to boot. More and more mansions of the past are being converted to apartment complexes which, while increasing the number of people in the area, also seems to be affecting the roadscape in a negative manner.

Nagercoil, a small town at the southern tip of the country, where my wife comes from was a town trying to stay small but grappling with growing pains. The countryside was picturesque though and the wedding was a grand affair.

Jobs are all over the place, expecially in the IT area and call centers seem to be mushrooming all over the country. Newspapers are filled with IT job openings and more and more MNCs seem to be setting up development (not testing) centers in the country. All this bodes well in the short-term for a nation filled with colleges with IT programs. In the long run, indigineous manufacturing and R&D should be encouraged to make sure the boom does not go bust.

In all, as my friend indicated in one of our discussion fora, things have never been more inviting for software engineers to march back home. Will we do it, setting aside our egos and American materialism, remains the big question.