The Last Blogger

Midsummer in the Garden: Spicy peppers

2007-07-27T18:33:00.000-05:00

We have started getting our peppers for the season. Regular green chillies and some Serrano peppers (or so I think). I forgot what two seeds I put in the ground early this season. My guess and Google indicate that its Serrano. All I know is they grow fast and big :)

In addition, I have added some new flower pics in my garden photos album here.

The Darjeeling Limited

2007-07-20T21:15:00.001-05:00

This poster is from a new movie by Wes Anderson who brought us among other things, the very interesting "Royal Tenenbaums". His newest movie is set in Darjeeling and I just chanced upon the poster (courtesy Fox Searchlight Pictures). It looks very Indian and whimsical. The colors used complement the picture nicely.

More on Anderson here.
More on "The Darjeeling Limited" here.

Back again with the flowers of summer

2007-07-15T13:39:00.000-05:00

Been a while since I posted last. I was taking my parents around the country. Thats why.
Here is a picture of my coreopsis. The plant looks unassuming but takes root and space fast. Soon enough, the flowers are all there, small and beautiful. This coreopsis, is of the Zagreb variety. More about it here.

More pictures of the coreopsis and some day lilies taken on the 4th of July are found here.

Early summer: The flowers are peeping out

2007-06-07T20:28:00.000-05:00

Spring is almost done (we do get the occasional 70F day but its usually closer to 85F) and the summer plants are starting to show their colors. I have two albums that I recently uploaded capturing the spirit of the season. The clematis is in full bloom and makes for a good welcome for visitors and residents alike.

The strawberry plant needs a post by itself with a nice picture which I will put up soon.

Here they are:

http://picasaweb.google.com/thenovicegardener/June3
http://picasaweb.google.com/thenovicegardener/June6

Spring to Summer: Its Paeony(peony) Time

2007-05-30T22:05:00.000-05:00

More spring flowers this time. The clematis is starting to flower and I am hoping to put out more pictures in the near future. The paeony plant (also spelled as peony) in our garden is wonderful when it flowers as evident in the picture above and we look forward to seeing them every year.

BTW, more shots are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/thenovicegardener/May28

Spring rocks

2007-04-29T08:11:00.000-05:00

We were in Philly this weekend to take a nice walk down the river front and snaps some pictures of Spring flowers before they make way for the plants. We snapped some pictures of cherry blossoms and dogwoods and magnolias. Ill post it as an album soon but here is the best pic of the lot. Its a close up of a flowering cherry.

Spring is finally here

2007-04-27T22:51:00.000-05:00

OK. I can proclaim it this time. After a bunch of false starts Spring is finally here. One of the lesser known things about Spring is that there is a lot of color. Note the pictures in this post and you'll see. Other than the sudden spurt of green all over the place (literally), there are purples and pinks and blues and whites that make Spring very pleasant (and not just weather wise).

The pink flowers belong to the Pink Dogwood. The white ones are from a cherry blossom tree (Sakura). They are spectacular and trust me, they are much better in person.

Nor'easter, Virginia Tech and Nandigram

2007-04-16T17:50:00.000-05:00

The world is changing and nothing captures is more than the events unravelling at this moment. A rare April Nor'Easter hit the northeast of United States resulting in massive rains, snow and the inevitable flooding. Upto 6 inches of rain has fallen in a single day in some places. The picture above is taken at a nearby creek which "barely" felt the effect of the Nor'Easter. If this is barely, you can well imagine.
Here is more info on the Nor'Easter: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/04/16/storm.ap/index.html

Today, a tragedy of unfathomable proportions stuck Virginia Tech, my alma-mater. A shooter (brain dead) armed with 2 guns (where do these people get these guns?) went around shooting students and staff in VT resulting in 33 people dead (as of this moment) and more injured. Why?. My sympathies to the parents, friends of the affected folks and the people of Blacksburg. Sometimes you wonder if there is a sense of justice in this world. For more on the shooting and the developing story, head over here:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html

Finally, in yet another tragic incident of great ramifications, the CPI-M party sanctioned the rape, death and destruction of the town and townsfolk of Nandigram, WB, India. This happened a month back and until now, nothing has happened. I ask the President, what are you waiting for?. Dissolve the Goverment, arrest every minister of the party and launch a high level investigation into this Darfur like incident. Thats the least we can do in response to a "Jallianwala Bagh" event in the 21st century.

For more on this, read here:

http://news.google.com/news?q=nandigram+massacre&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=zcu&um=1&sa=X&oi=news&ct=title

Garden 2007:02: More First Signs

2007-04-08T10:09:00.000-05:00

The Magnolias are flowering and so are the cherry blossoms. I managed to get a snap of a magnolia tree this weekend and here it is. I am waiting to snap the cherry blossoms soon.

More on the Magnolia can be found here and here. And if you are a movie junkie, here is the reference to the Paul Thomas Anderson ensemble drama starring Tom Cruise.
My limited understanding tells me that this is a Magnolia soulangeana.

Garden 2007:01: The First Signs

2007-03-27T17:54:00.000-05:00

It has been a weird winter with pockets of brutally cold weather peppering an otherwise mild 3 months. It has been worse so for the spring bulbs that have been shown hints of the new season only to be swamped with snow the very next day. I think its finally starting to improve and the spring buds are out now.

I have posted a sample pic here. More can be seen here.

Born again blogger

2007-03-25T13:01:00.000-05:00

I am back. I've been away from blogging for a while. Lot of things have kept me busy. It's spring again and what better time to restart. Today there are blogs everywhere. Opinions and thoughts on diverse matters are but a drop in an ocean. I figured I'd do something much simpler. From this point on, this blog will be predominantly focussed on the mundane yet absolutely fascinating world of gardening. There will be other posts of interest but the predominant theme would be gardening, flowers and herbs. So if you are a novice gardener who is trying to make sense of things like bulbs, perennials and hydrangeas this will be a good spot. I hope to trace the evolution of my garden this year with snippets and photographs. More soon.

It's good to be back.

Pause...

2006-11-12T12:09:00.000-05:00

Shot earlier in the summer, this was in the middle of a ramp to a highway...for a moment, everything paused for this magnificent scene in nature to unfold.

Its Boston, baby !

2006-11-12T12:06:00.000-05:00

Shot earlier this Fall in Boston, MA at the Hynes Convention Center (September 12, 2006)

Fall in the Collegeville woods

2006-11-12T12:02:00.000-05:00

Shot on Oct 21, 2006 by the Perkiomen Trail in Collegeville, PA.

WP: Limbaugh mocks Michael J. Fox ad - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

2006-10-25T18:42:00.000-05:00

WP: Limbaugh mocks Michael J. Fox ad - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

Everytime you think politics cant get any worse, along comes something like this.

Fall Colors - 3

2006-10-18T21:27:00.000-05:00

Shot at Valley Forge National Park, King of Prussia, PA on October 18, 2006.

Fall Colors-2

2006-10-14T19:37:00.000-05:00

This is Fall colors - Pennsylvania style (shot on 10-14-2006 in NorthWest PA)

Fall Colors - 1

2006-10-12T21:21:00.000-05:00

Here is the first of what I hope will be a series of Fall pics from Southeast PA.

Chikungunya and Dengue

2006-10-08T19:22:00.000-05:00

Chikungunya - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chikungunya has become the next big disease to make a significant impact in India. Thanks to sanitary conditions and lack of proper medical awareness, the disease has claimed many a life and is threatening to cause many more deaths, especially in South India. Read more about the disease and spread the word on how to prevent it.

Recently, Delhi has started reporting cases of Dengue fever. This has also caused several deaths and hundreds of people are in hospitals.
Read more about Dengue, its symptoms and the cure here:
Dengue - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Past and present

2006-10-05T20:59:00.000-05:00

This picture was taken from inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Specifically, in the foreground is the Temple of Dendur exhibit and in the back is NYC. One if from 15BC and the other is 2006 AD.

Incredible India - in Hamilton, New Jersey

2006-10-01T11:21:00.000-05:00

A very gratifying sight. I always felt Indian tourism wasnt promoted as well in the US. Not anymore. This shot taken in the sleepy NJ transit trainstation of Hamilton, NJ confirmed its happening...and I love it.

The Joy of Gardening - 3

2006-10-01T11:16:00.000-05:00

Capsicum, mint, coriander and chillies - All in the comfort of our own garden.

The Joy of Gardening - 2

2006-09-27T18:53:00.000-05:00

A picture of our flowers - in Fall. This year, the flowers have lasted for an unseasonably long time. The flowers themselves give a great sense of accomplishment with regards to our gardening efforts all year.

The Joy of Gardening - 1

2006-09-27T18:10:00.000-05:00

Fresh from our very own chilli plant. More on this in future posts.
P.S. This is a day's worth.

Why HP Customer Service sucks?

2006-07-18T10:40:00.000-05:00

Update on 07/25/2006:
I have now been formally billed 307.35 by HP for what they said will be free of charge. Turns out the person in HP Corporate (do they actually have Corporate folks...seems like they dont) and the HP Parts Store person who took my order (Charles at 1-800-227-8164 x 5559147) didnt promise me anything or atleast there is no record of it. So now HP says pay up or return the product for credit. We hear everytime we call Customer Service about "Your call is being recorded for Quality purposes". If this is not of use now, why have the recording. If HP revisits the recordings of my conversation with them, it should be apparent enough. But no. They wont do it. I am now returning the product. I have also lodged a complaint with BBB (#253027).

Lessons Learned:
1. HP sucks
2. HP Customer Service is even worse.
3. Never buy anything HP.
4. Make sure you take down names of all customer service reps you talk to in any conversation.
5. Request that anything promised by Customer Service immediately be noted in the order Notes section (they have one that they never mention to you about unless asked for).
6. And finally, dont buy anything HP (I know I am repeating this but it should give you an idea of the inconvenience, lost time and effort that went into something that yielded nothing).

After a whole lot of time logged in phone calls with HP Parts customer service I decided to write a post my travails with them. This should tie in really well with how customer perception and the so-called awards and ratings differ and by how much. It also shows how impersonal the company is while touting their "The Pc is personal" compaign.

On the 3rd of March 2006, I ordered a 256MB graphics card for my desktop to play my games better. I got an order confirmation immediately. I waited eagerly for my card to ship. Hours turned to days and days turned to months. The status online didnt change. The seasons did. Winter was over. Spring came and left..and then it was summer. In the meantime, I had called HP Parts Customer Service multiple times (I called them between 5 and 10 times) to be told EVERYTIME that the product was backordered until recently and that it was going to be shipped in the next week. The next week never came.

When I checked status online for the Nth time on the 14th of July, I noticed that my order was cancelled. No warning. No reason. Just cancelled. By this time I had realised how much the company differed from what they claimed to be. HP is just another behemoth that cares two hoots about its individual customers. It likes the money we spend on its products. But just doesnt really care about how we suffer. I called Customer Service immediately and was sent from pillar to post (each pillar gave me a different reason why my order was cancelled - product unavailable to credit card denied) all the way upto Executive office. A lady in the Executive office started asking me stupid questions like what PC I owned and how old it was, that was completely irrelevent to the problem at hand and only outlined how removed the company was from reality. I could use the graphics card to stomp on. Why would the company care as long as I paid for it and knew what I was doing?

Coming back to the story, the Executive office lady redirected me to the Parts Customer Service section to redo my order and provide a VALID CREDIT CARD. Did I mention that I have been using this card for 4 years now and continue to use it on an almost daily basis?. Nevermind. I gave them a different credit card only to be told the product was no more sold by HP. The Parts store "expert" was unable to recommend a viable alternative from their store even after consulting other "parts experts". It took me all of 5 minutes to select an alternative from their store and a "new" order was created. I was explicitly told that HP would NOT be charging me for their repeated blunders. I figured this would be the very end of my ordeal. WRONG.

The new order confirmation came with a bill for 307 dollars. I called back immediately only to not be able ot reach the same Customer Service Rep. The other rep who handled the issue said that the new order or the old order had no notes saying that HP would be taking care of the bill. So now after 6 months of waiting and letting go of innumerable good offers on graphics cards, I am asked to pay 307 dollars for what amounts to multiple critical flaws in the famed and much ballyhooed customer service of HP.

I am at a loss of words. I figured as the helpless consumer who has spent hours wrangling to no use, I need to atleast let others know why companies like HP thrive. Its because suffering customers like us do not make the right kind of noise. The kind that gets noticed. If you have had a similar customer service experience, with HP or any other MNC, I would definitely like to hear about it.

City Hall in Sunny Philly

2006-07-12T20:02:00.000-05:00

Weekend in the Big Apple

2006-06-18T20:04:00.000-05:00

Its NYC. What do you expect?

X3 and Chinese

2006-06-11T19:22:00.000-05:00

X-Men 3 was a lot of fun. And where we watched it made it all the more enjoyable :)
If you didnt know, the picture above is of the Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood Blvd, LA, California.

Work and be happy

2006-06-11T19:19:00.000-05:00

Work has kept me busy but I hope to be back to my regular blogging soon. Until then, something about work to see and enjoy!
This picture was taken in the Amish County outside Philadelphia, PA.

Rainbow

2006-04-25T20:41:00.000-05:00

I racked my brains for a more interesting title this post but decided to stick with the simplest. The shot was taken last week from my house on a wonderful evening when the rain had left a lasting impression in the sky.

I live for this!

2006-04-02T16:30:00.000-05:00

Its baseball season again. Will the Sox get it together after an oh-so-average season last year?. Will it be the Yankees after 6 years?. Will it be the WhiteSox repeating it?. So many questions. And so many reasons to watch the baseball season this year.

I know I will be rooting for my RedSox.

Who will you be rooting for?

Chronicles of Collegeville:The Brush, the paint and the ladder. (a.k.a) Home Painting Tips from one novice to another.

2006-02-05T15:45:00.000-05:00

Long long ago, there was a couple who believed that they could paint their house. They had never painted before but the lure of TLC and HGTV was too difficult to resist and the ladder and paint beckoned to them when they decided to move into a new house. Little did they know how hard it would be. Painting is hard, tiring, agonizingly long but most of all, a whole lot of fun. It was not this easy, when a partly painted house (a bad color at that) and an unpainted rest was what they started with. Along the way, they learnt a lot of things that they believe should be shared with all those other novices out there who, being the foolish romantics, think they too can. Here are some of those pearls of painting wisdom for you.

1. First off, HGTV and TLC are overrated for the most part. Yet, amidst all the unwanted stuff, there are some vignettes of wisdom you could do with. So start watching it if you intend ever painting your house or apartment.

2. The bargain bin in Borders, Barnes and Nobles and their smaller siblings (Borders Express, Brentanos, etc.) are excellent places to find cheap, colorful and extremely heavy tomes on painting ideas. Like their TV counterparts, these guides are filled with a whole lot of unwanted stuff but have some hidden gems you could start your project with.

3. When you decide to paint, plan your colors well in advance. A sampler (to-go) pack doesnt hurt. Lowes, Home Depot and Sherwin Williams keep coming with promotions to save 20-30% off on paints. Look for the ads. Spend your time visiting all the aforementioned stores and looking at their average prices, color selection and availability. In general, the more personal effort and money you spend, the better will be your final paint result.

4. Be prepared to experiment. Be creative. Its your house for Gods sake. Do what you feel like. Not what the world feels is the way a room should look. You are going to live there and the sense of accomplishment is all the more when you do it your way.

5. Dont ever scrimp on quality of paint, brushes, or rollers. They make a BIG difference. Trust the ones who have learnt it the hard way. Look at it this way. By conservative estimates, you are saving atleast $250 dollars a room (for a small one) by painting it yourself. You owe it to the room and the final look to give it the best of best. And the difference in cost is not more than 10-15% between the average and the best of supplies. Why be penny wise and pound foolish?

6. Dont forget to buy a lot of rags and kitchen towels and drop cloth (both canvas and polythene). They are truly invaluable. Also, having a gallon of primer (both the white and gray versions for light and dark colors) helps. A good ladder never goes waste.

7. Buy a lot of rollers. Roller reuse is bad idea. Even after a great wash, the quality of roller is so bad that it doubles your effort when you reuse it. Not to mention a wall with white spots all around. Having a couple of roller poles/extenders is also a good idea. It reduces your effort big time.

8. If you havent moved into a house, plan as much as possible to paint before moving or before loading the room with stuff. Its infinitely more difficult to paint with things around the room.

9. On the day of painting, be prepared to do this and nothing else. Painting is very tiring and strenuous. If you have back pain of any sort, be prepared for more at the end of the day.
Before the actual paint job, have the rags, a bucket of water, some kitchen towels, and spare everything at hands reach. Disposable gloves are a God send. Have enough of them around. They are cheap and universally available.

10. Be prepared to order in or cook in advance. You are not going to be able to do both painting and a lunch.

11. Make sure you either have your phone closeby or switch it off. Rushing to get the phone in the midst of painting, results in a whole lot of problems ranging from an irritated fellow painter to paint stains on the floor, wall or possible your phone and what not.

12. Eat well before and between the painting effort. Have some soda around. It really gives you a refreshing feel amidst the paint job.

13. The smell of paint can be overwhelming for very many. Either stay away from it or have your favorite headache pill around. Trust me. You'll need it.

14. Painting thrives on preparation. Every minute spent in preparation is 10 minutes saved while actually painting.

15. Painting is a fun job especially for couples. Be prepared for a tough day but never lose your sense of humor. There is nothing worse than a foul mood and a paint job. They almost never go together.

Many of the tips above are from the tens of books we consumed as part of the learning process and the hours spent watching various programs on TV. I have tried to summarise them to save you the time. The sense of accomplishment you get after seeing your handiwork is priceless. That alone is worth all the effort.

Enjoy your painting !

Rang De Basanti : Paint me Yellow

2006-01-29T10:52:00.000-05:00

Rang De Basanti :: Official Web Site

I got a chance to see this movie last evening. Very thought provoking. Within the "Indian mass entertainment" format, the director weaves a tale that juxtaposes the turbulent times of 1930 -31 when Bhagat Singh and his friends revolutionised the freedom movement and the youth of today, quite unlike the youth of Bhagat Singh times. The slow yet powerful awakening of the youngsters of today makes for great thought provoking cinema. The acting is top notch led by the ever dependable Amir Khan and the brilliant Atul Kulkarni with excellent performances by Siddharth (he is a revelation), Soha Ali Khan, Sharmaan Joshi and Kunal Kapoor.

Watch it. It makes you think. The same cannot be said for the many hundred movies that the Indian film factory churnes out every year. This is good cinema at its best. Funny, sad, and most importantly, intelligent.

Nalladhor Veenai

2005-12-29T16:27:00.000-05:00

During my recent trip to India, I got a chance to see the movie "Varumayin Niram Sirappu". While it reflects more of things at the time then, the way KB blends Bharathiyar into the storyline is amazing. The depth of each song complements the situations and vice versa. I wanted to revisit one exceptional piece in this post.

The composition "Nalladhor Veenai" juxtapositioning an idealistic and jobless Kamal trying to get a meal and his illustrious singer father singing the song in a concert in Delhi is exceptional. Kamal loses everything but his ideals and thus has everything. His father has everything but nothing since his son is not to be found and hence no peace of mind. The song and its lyrics are here along with the rest of the tracks in the movie. I am sure many of you have seen the movie, heard the songs but give it another shot and you will never regret it.

Movie Name: Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu (1980)
Singer: Balasubramanyam S P
Music Director: Viswanathan M S
Lyrics: Bharathiyaar, Kannadasan
Year: 1980
Actors: Kamal Hassan, Sridevi

nalladhoar veenai seydhae - adhai
nalangedap puzhudhiyil erivadhundoa

(nalladhoar)

solladi sivasakthi - enaich
chudarmigum arivudan padaiththuvittaay
vallamai thaaraayoa - indha
maanilam payanura vaazhvadharkae
solladi sivasakthi - nilach
chumaiyena vaazhndhidap puriguvaiyoa

(nalladhoar)

visaiyurup pandhinaip poal - ullam
vaendiyapadi seyyum udal kaettaen
nasaiyaru manam kaettaen - niththam
navamenach chudar tharum uyir kaettaen...uyir kaettaen...uyir kaettaen
thasaiyinaith theechchudinum - siva
sakthiyaip paadum nallagam kaettaen
asaivuru madhi kaettaen - ivai
arulvadhil unakkedhum thadaiyuladhoa (2)

(nalladhoar)

And here is another gem from the movie.

Movie Name: Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu (1980)
Singer: Balasubramanyam S P
Music Director: Viswanathan M S
Lyrics: Bharathiyar, Kannadasan
Year: 1980
Actors: Kamal Hassan, Sridevi

theerththak karaiyinilae therku moolaiyil shenbagath thoattaththilae
paarththirundhaal varuvaen vennilaavilae paanigiyoadenru sonnaay
vaarththai thavarivittaay adi kannammaa maarbu thudikkudhadi
paarththa idaththilellaam unnaip poalavae paavai theriyudhadi
paavai theriyudhadi

(theerththak)

maeni kodhikkudhadi thalai sutriyae vaedhanai seygudhadi
vaanin idaththaiyellaam indha vennilaa vandhu thazhuvudhu paar
moanaththirukkudhadi indha vaiyagam moozhgith thuyilinilae
naanoruvan mattilum pirivenbadhoar naragath thuzhaluvadhoa (2)

(theerththak)

It happens only in India

2005-12-11T17:34:00.000-05:00

I am back from an awesome trip to India. More on that later. Here is a sampler from my photo collection. And yes, its all India and absolutely no photoshop.

(Taken outside the town of Nagercoil in the southernmost part of India)

Wedding in the shadows

2005-11-27T12:38:00.000-05:00

I attended the wedding of two fellow bloggers in India last week. Since I have not gotten the green signal from them yet, I will post a picture of their shadows now and their faces later...

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

2005-11-18T09:47:00.000-05:00

A quick review. Shalini and I did get a chance to see the first screening of the latest Harry Potter movie, "HP and the Goblet of Fire" at 12 last night. The movie is definitely the best Potter movie, yet. Its dark, its definitely more mature and it is outright gorgeous. The sets and effects are fantastic and there are very few areas where the computer effects stick out like a sore thumb. Effects are felt as experiences and not as just effects.

The acting has improved significantly with the only complaint being that Hermoine cribs too much and Dumbledore seems a trifle too angry at times contradicting his character in the book. That said, the chemistry between the lead characters is very good and new additions are all good. Ralph Fiennes as Voldermort, rocks !

The best part about the movie is the picturisation of the TriWizard tournament. It looks unbelievable and the thrills are many and great.

In short, the movie to beat for the winter and well, the movie to beat for future Potter ones themselves.

Here are some critics reviews:
NY Times
Chicago Sun Times

Fall, falling, fallen !

2005-11-14T11:33:00.000-05:00

And Fall is over. Atleast officially. The weather has been surprisingly pleasant for the last week or so but things are changing...and the colorful leaves are history. For the year atleast.

So until Spring, here is to a bleak landscape and nightfall at 4.

Fall, at the door.

2005-11-10T09:14:00.000-05:00

The nights are getting colder.
There are still a few that are holding on to their color.
But soon, it will be all black and all grey.
And Winter will be here.

Spicy!!!

2005-11-03T22:51:00.000-05:00

This picture was taken at the same place I got many of my Fall pics and the previous Halloween post.

Its Halloween

2005-10-31T09:51:00.000-05:00

Here is a Halloween picture that I shot in a nursery close by. I have since then seen a lot of innovative Halloween arrangements but this one blends the natural significance with pumpkins and the one with ghosts and all. And for trivia buffs, here is some information on the significance of Halloween.

Fall in Pa

2005-10-15T16:35:00.000-05:00

Fall colors have started appearing all over town and this one is the best I have seen this season. This was taken on an evening drive around the place I live, Devon, Pa.

Man, Machine, God and Nature

2005-10-09T15:27:00.000-05:00

This photo was sheer good luck. I had parked my car on a rainy night under the lights and the rain and lights together were creating this unique pattern above the dashboard of the car. Thankfully the camera was on hand and I got Shalini or rather her hand to pose for the photograph.

The honeymoon is over.

2005-10-08T15:18:00.000-05:00

And thus the reign ended. It was nice and glorious while it lasted. After a comeback for generations last Fall to win the World Series, the RedSox sputtered and fell yesterday to the Chicago WhiteSox in the ALDS. It was shocking to few but expected by many. Inspite of tying for the top position in the AL East with the Yankees, the 2005 RedSox had been plagued by injuries, player chemistry and everything else that made it almost impossible for the RedSox to defeat a much better White Sox. There was a finality for the Idiot team of 2004 which will spread far and wide in the off season. While Theo pulled the almost impossible in holding most of the champion team together last offseason, changes are inevitable this year.

Yesterday, the loss was much less of a thought. The feeling of sadness in seeing the team splitting this offseason was evident in fan forums and message boards and the field. Millar, Damon, Timlin, Mueller have probably played their last game for the RedSox. And much as I hate even thinking about it, one of the greatest hitters in recent memory, Manny Ramirez, might be soon saying goodbye to the Fenway Faithful. The lovable RedSox of 2004 are soon going to be distant dream but the camaraderie and sheer joy they brought to the clubhouse and field would be remembered forever.

Goodbye team of 2004/2005. We loved you inspite of your problems and inconsistencies. We believed. You delivered . That alone is worth a lifetime of joy and joyful retrospection. May the best happen to all of you.
We will never forget the Fall of 2004.

A photo to celebrate photography

2005-09-08T14:17:00.000-05:00

This photo was taken on Labor Day in downtown Philly. This happens to be the location of the oldest surviving photograph by Joseph Saxton in 1839. Others in the picture include my wife Shalini and fellow blogger, Saranyan. The photographer is a blogger himself, Pradeep.

Note: No one actually posed for the photo. The fact that we have all adopted similar poses is just coincidence and credit to Pradeep for having captured it at the right moment.

Fall Tracker: 09-04-2005

2005-09-08T14:13:00.000-05:00

Not much change in the foliage this week. The hope persists. I am expecting to see significant change in the next two-three weeks. The temperature is starting to come down especially at nights.

Fall Tracker: 08-28-2005

2005-08-30T21:28:00.000-05:00

I am tracking Fall in PA this year by taking photos of the same subject over the entire season. This is the first of the set taken last Sunday, the 28th of August, 2005.

No hassle or too much hassle

2005-08-08T21:04:00.000-05:00

If you live in the US, you probably are groaning even thinking about it. If you work in India as a software engineer or as a professional in a big city, you pretty much know what I am talking about. Why do the credit card companies torture us with the unending mailers for pre-approved credit card offerings?. I have had days when I got 4 of them. On an average I get about 10 pre-approved card applications a month. And that doesnt include the ancillary credit card offerings like magazine subscriptions and credit protector schemes and what not. I have cursed them so many times, and still fallen short of how many preapproved applications I have received from them.

The bad news is that it never gets better. As your credit improves, the offers pour in more and more. The good news is that you can actually stop this mail bombardment. The credit bureaus offer you a choice of phone in (1-888-5-OPTOUT), mail in or an online mechanism of opting out of receiving the applications. All methods come with a big caveat- revealing your social security number. While there is no obvious threat to doing so, such a move needs to be done judiciously. Here are some websites to help in the decision making process.

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/3/1/13940/79585
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs24a-optout.htm
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs24-finpriv.htm
https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t

Hope this helps. And as a friend told me, never trash your preapproved card offers as is. Shred them to avoid any possibility of privacy theft.

Update: As per a legal ruling, the preapproved ads I have been getting since August last week (after the time of this posting) give me the option of opting out from the ads. The notice bears the aforementioned number and website for the same.

To opt out of telemarketing calls, please use www.donotcall.gov. Its very effective.

Kalimdor Diary

2005-07-22T19:36:00.000-05:00

Kalimdor Diary
Originally uploaded by geeky_rp.

This is a collage of pictures taken while I(Bheema and Bheeshma - my game characters) visited Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdom in the World of Warcraft.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2005-07-18T09:37:00.000-05:00

No spoilers here. This past weekend, Shalini and my wait for the sixth Harry Potter book came to an end. We had preordered a copy at the local Borders and picked it up on Saturday. Here is a quick review with no spoilers whatsoever.

The book is great but could have been better. Bear in mind that J.K.Rowling is so good that even a less than fantastic effort from her is much better than most books out there. That said, the focus on apparently unimportant issues (could become important in the last book but does not appear so, to me) is more than the important ones. Romance is given lot more space than in the past and understandably so. The kids are 16 and romance is pretty high on the list of 16 year olds. I would have preferred a little less romance but thats just me. There is much more Dumbledore-Harry interactions in this book than ever before and that is a good thing. Sometimes a bit too disconnected but nevertheless pretty interesting, we see more of the human side of the great HeadMaster that we always wanted but never got until the sixth book.

Harry is not a pain in the a$% like in the "Order of the Phoenix". In fact he is the total opposite. He is mature, intelligent and getting to be the role model he is expected to be at the end of the series. The lovable Harry who got lost in Book 5 makes a triumphant return in book 6. Ron and Hermione undergo changes too and for the better. Ginny gets more space and so do a bunch of people.

The two main characters in Book 6 are Snape and Dumbledore, not to mention Harry and each one gets an excellent character exploration from Rowling. The Book is worth reading for just them if not anything else.

Finally, there is a death. Much more sadder than Sirius's death in Book 5 and far reaching too. For the faint hearted and emotional ones, there are tears here for certain. So be prepared with hankies and all.

The stage is all set for the final book in the Harry Potter series. It is expected in 2007 but could very well get to 2008. Nevertheless, the events have been set in motion and the reader can be assured of an explosive ending to the beloved series. I personally cant wait for the final book!

Enjoy.

Image Courtesy: Scholastic and Bloomsbury. Picture refers to the cover of the deluxe edition.

Three days in Chicago: A casual tourist guide

2005-07-11T19:44:00.000-05:00

Its hard to imagine cities bigger and nicer, having lived in Philly, Boston and Dallas, not to mention being close to NYC, Baltimore and DC. While Chicago doesnt match NYC in size it does come very close if not match the big East coast cities in being a sheer tourist delight. My wife and I were lucky to get a room along the Chicago river and right opposite to the Wrigley Building. This meant that we could see all the downtown attractions without having to worry about travel.

Downtown Chicago is magnificent, not just because of its high rises, but also its picturesque location by the Chicago river and the glorious Lake Michigan. The Magnificent Mile (N.Michigan Avenue) is a shoppers paradise. Lake Michigan is a true jewel in Chicago's crown. Spending time walking by Grant Park was an awesome experience embellished to no less extent by the annual Taste of Chicago food festival. This being the 4th of July weekend, fireworks were aplenty. We chose to see the one on the 3rd of July over Lake Michigan from Grant Park. This was one well attended event with people everywhere. For more on that, check the previous post titled Resident Evil.

For art and museum lovers, Chicago is an absolute delight. There are museums of all sorts peppered all over town. We chose to visit the excellent Art Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue. With nice sections on European Impressionists, it was a great trip. The best part though was to come outside the Museum and see the section of road named Swami Vivekananda way. For a moment, my chest swelled with pride. Rarely does one get to see such public recognition of an Indian in the US. The second museum we visited was the very unique and interesting Museum of Science and Industry. This is supposedly a kids place but has so much for adults that makes it a must visit for all ages.

A sight to behold is the view of Chicago and the Lake from atop the Hancock Observatory or the Sears Towers. We chose the former based on recommendations from friends and it was definitely a glorious sight atop the skyscraper.

Last but not the least a trip to Chicago is incomplete without a walk by the uniquely designed, excellently executed Millenium Park. An oasis amidst skyscrapers, its so unique, it needs to be seen to be experienced.

This was all we could squeeze in three days and there was so much leftto do. So we are already looking forward to a trip in the future where an evening Buddy Guy's Legends blues place, an evening in the Navy Pier and a ballgame at the venerable Wrigleys Field would take priority over everything else.

The Windy City sure is rockin'!

Resident Evil

2005-07-08T22:55:00.000-05:00

Resident Evil
Originally uploaded by geeky_rp.

This photo is a collage of photos taken after the fireworks shown in the previous photo near Grant Park in Chicago. It reminds me of zombies from any one of the tens of zombie horror movies.

Fireworks over Lake Michigan

2005-07-06T22:02:00.000-05:00

Fireworks collage-Chicago-small
Originally uploaded by geeky_rp.

This is a collage of pictures taken during an excellent fireworks display at Grant Park in Chicago on 3rd July. It was glorious to watch and crowded too, in the company of probably a 100000 people.

Take me out to the ballgame

2005-06-29T09:59:00.000-05:00

Take me out to the ballgame
Originally uploaded by geeky_rp.

A stopgap pic while I write my next post. This shot was taken during last week's trip to the Phillies-NY Mets baseball game at the Citizens Bank ballpark in Philly. And no, the red does not mean that I support the Phillies, it means I support the RedSox :)

A Tale of Two Movies

2005-06-20T15:59:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, I had a chance to catch up with two of the biggest Hollywood and Kollywood offerings this summer. On Friday, I saw Batman Begins on IMAX and on Saturday I drove all the way to North Bergen, NJ to see Anniyan. I shall try to objectively review and compare the two in this post. Bear in mind that my tastes have changed significantly over the last five years I have been in the US and might even indicate a bias towards all things American. I can assure the reader that while its a possibility, its not always the case, since I loved Chandramukhi and a large part of Mumbai Express too.

Batman Begins in one word to me is all that can be done right with a movie. Good star cast, good cinematography, great sets and most of all, excellent writing and directing. Chris Nolan of Memento fame, gets everything right with Batman Begins. Hours after watching the movie, I was still trying to remember any perceptible flaw in it and the effort has continued to be futile. Its that good. Frame after frame, the effort shows and the result is a very enjoyable adult comic book movie that blows past all expectations.

Anniyan, on the flip side is really all that can go wrong with a highly touted movie. A good message of civic responsibility is lost in the cacaphony of over the top acting, glaring holes in the script and a loud movie if ever there was one. Vikram not only acts, but overacts too. In the enthusiasm of trying to delineate multiple characters in the movie, he goes completely overboard. The movie is supposedly U rated with no censor cuts. I am really not sure why we need a censor board if this is the job they are doing. The movie is bloody, gory and violent. Some of the scenes were really unwatchable for the gore content. The only things that work for the movie are the songs and their picturisation and vivek's comedy that sparkles after a long time. Even the songs could have been done better, what with almost no dancing of mention by the lead stars.

Batman Begins was an adult look at a comic book hero. It works well with both adults and kids, although it skews more towards the former with a PG-13 rating. Anniyan is an adult look at a very contemporary issue that really supposedly skews towards everyone but it fails badly in that. I didnt have hopes for a classy movie from Shankar. What I hoped for, was a sensible movie (Mudhalvan is a case to point, if you exclude all things Manisha Koirala from it) and what I got instead was a rehash of all old Shankar movies with more gore and Matrix like stunts thrown in for a good measure.

I very highly recommend Batman Begins and ask that people approach Anniyan at their own risk.

At the Crossroads in Kalimdor

2005-06-13T08:55:00.000-05:00

Crossroads in the Eastern Kingdom
Originally uploaded by geeky_rp.

This a screenshot of my character Bheema at the Crossroads in Kalimdor. For the uninitiated, this is a place in the virtual world of the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) "World of Warcraft". I have been having an unbelievably fantastic experience taking my Tauren Warrior Bheema from L1 to L14 where he is currently and there are 46 more levels to go. The cooperative gameplay is just awesome. It has to be experienced to be believed.

Oru Manidhanin Kadhai

2005-06-08T10:27:00.000-05:00

Oru Manidhanin Kadhai
Originally uploaded by geeky_rp.

My good friend George Costanza describes a baldist thus:
"A person who does not associate with bald people".

In a recent email conversation amongst a bunch of friends, this whole idea of baldness and how people react to it, came up. Certainly in the US, baldness is not considered as bad as most other places throughout the world (read India). One friend, who went from hairy to no-hairy over a period of five years, had this to say about it. The email is produced here verbatim.

" Atleast for gaining weight we can blame ourselves, but what can we do about going bald ... it is never in our control, so no point in feeling bad. also, being bald and hair(or lack of) is an issue only in India. Here, I have known personally from 95% of girls, nobody gives a damn(thankfully!).

I did some self analysis and psychologically analysed male baldness. we go through 4 psychological stages ....

1. Shock ... when we see the initial receeding hairlines (this happened to me in 4th year)

2. Denial ... we pretend not to notice the reduced hairline and try to hide it by combing accordingly and not even think about it (for me end of 4th year and initial year here in US)

3. Anger ... this is when no matter how much we try to hide by combing hair over or not notice ever increasing baldness, the hair loss has become so much that it will be noticeable. The anger part is a bit compounded by friends/family asking .... "thalaikku ennai thekkaraya illaya? ... en ivlo mudi kotti pochu?" etc etc. Sometimes when guys(mostly Indian since hair is never an issue for guys here) continue to tease we have an angry retort like "amaam mudi kotti pochu, otha adhukku enna ippo?" (for me the next 2-3 years in US).

4. Rejected Acceptance ... It is just there and we cannot do a damn. We painfully realize that we have to live with it. We look at old pictures once in a while and sigh inside. But we also start looking at bright side ... that hair is not that much of a big deal and try to find alternative ways of accentuating our personalities to cover up for a "physical" loss. This is also when we start making sarcastic jokes at our own baldness. (since last year for me)."

Now to make this even more interesting, I am posting 5 photographs from that same friend, capturing the essence of his writing. We had so much fun reading the email with the photos, I am sure everyone here will too. Click on the thumbnail image to see a bigger version in Flickr.

Note: Big Thanks to my friend AP who was gracious and sporting enough to share this image and his own words on the evolution with all of us. An additional thanks to fellow blogger Pradeep for pasting together multiple images to one cohesive pic.

A picture is worth...

2005-06-04T10:29:00.000-05:00

A picture is worth...
Originally uploaded by geeky_rp.

Well, this picture is worth 3 days, two 128 MB SD cards, multiple gas refills for the car, hundreds of dollars, and yep, 277 other pictures.
The joy of seeing it all in one single collage - priceless.
For all places shown here, visit Los Angeles, California.

Climbing the social ladder

2005-06-01T14:03:00.000-05:00

Vetri Nichayam
Originally uploaded by geeky_rp.

Vetri Nichayam. Taken in Rodeo Drive,CA during my Memorial Day weekend trip it reminds me of Thalaivars pose in Annamalai and then Baasha. And that thrills me to no end.

More on the trip soon.

California and Wine

2005-06-01T13:55:00.000-05:00

California and Wine
Originally uploaded by geeky_rp.

This photo was taken last Saturday in Solvang, CA. The color and contrast in this picture are excellent, coming from a 2 year old 3.1 MP camera. Nothing fancy, yet classy.

Rambaigal Heartil Ringtone Remo

2005-05-17T15:58:00.000-05:00

For a change, I thought of posting something that amuses me rather than worry or ponder seriously. Pasted below, courtesy www.geetham.net, is the lyrics for the song "Kaadhal Yaanai" from the upcoming Shankar movie, " Anniyan" starring Vikram with music by Harris Jayaraj.

While this could easily become a serious discussion topic later, at this stage I want this to be enjoyed by all readers. I have listened to the song many times and everytime the lyrics crack me up. I admit to liking the song for its quirky lyrics. I don't approve of english words in tamil songs but I have to give it to whoever wrote this one for the sheer inventiveness he brings to his words. I expect this song to be picturised well by Shankar and is upbeat enough to become very popular. You can listen to the song here. Another version of the lyrics is available here.

oley oley oley yo leyo
aah.. oley oley oley yo leyo
rambo say yoke..
what to say yoke...
it's gonna rockin.noooo..nooooooooo.
yaanai sontham pearu sontham...
one mark two....

kaadhal yaanai varugira remo
mutha thanthathil muttuvom remo
appalam ithayangal bathiram remo
rambo remo...

thookathai turathem dragon remo
pookal vedikindra stengun remo
rambaigal heartil ringtone remo
rainbow remo..

algebra ivan thegam amoeba vai urumarum
king cobra ivan vegam queen ellam thadumarum..

aah aah R E M O remo remo ..romeo
aah aah R E M O remo remo ...romeo

kaadhal yaanai...
thookathai turathum...
algebra ivan...
aah aah...

ring masterin singam pol
suthi suthi varum pengal paar
verkaathey enakku visirigal kodii irukku
changu chakkaram vegam pol
pattam vitu varum aatam paar
baby doll nee enakku teddy bear naan unakku

aah aah...
kaadhal yaanai...
thookathai turathum...

oley oley oley yo leyo
aah.. oley oley oley yo leyo

cmon and take me away
won't you take me away
oley oley yaay hai
u wanna get it up i wanna check it up..

u wanna salsa take me to uuupa
u like to dance
open the raaazzz
unakku baila enakku oila
unakku salsa enakku jalsa
u like to dance
open the raam

hiroshima neethano nagasakiyum neethano
un meethu thaano en kaadhal bomb oh
harappa vum neethano mohanjadarro neethano
aayvaalan naano arayaa lamo

aah R E M O...
kaadhal yaanai...
thookathai turathum...
algebra ivan...
aah aah...

u wanna get it up i wanna check it up..
u wanna salsa take me to uuupa
u like to dance
open the raaazzz
unakku baila enakku oila
unakku salsa enakku jalsa
u like to dance
open the raam

Note: Repeated lines have the first couple of words mentioned followed by ...

2005-05-11T19:04:00.000-05:00

Picture of a graffiti in downtown Philly. Philadephia is world famous for its myriad graffiti found all over the city.

How much is a life worth?

2005-05-03T13:40:00.000-05:00

This post should have appeared a month ago, but due to unforseen circumstances is being posted only today. Nevertheless, the impact of the topic of the post is going to be felt forever. On the 24th of March this year, the Government of India significantly amended the 1970 Patent Act that covered drugs and agricultural items, amongst others. While the impact of this on the Indian farmer is significant, the impact of the Law on the entire world community is huge. This Act, which until date permitted Indian drug manufacturers to make cheaper and more affordable variants of generic drugs for diseases like AIDS, was amended to ensure that the WTO guidelines were adhered to. As a part of the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), Indian drug manufacturers would no more be able to bypass the royalties for drug patents owned by American and European countries. A huge victory for the Pfizers and Bayers and a big setback for AIDS patients worldwide.

India, for those in the dark, provides more than 50% of the drugs used to treat the few million known AIDs patients in Africa and Asia. These generic drugs reduced the cost of a year's treatment for AIDS from $15000 a decade ago to almost $200 today. But with the global markets opening up and the pharma lobbies baying for the billions of dollars worth of lost business, this had to happen. With the new law in force, all future generics are required to adhere to global patent policies which means simply that the drugs are going to cost much much more. Agencies ranging from the World Health Organisation to HIV Kenya, have protested against this "Act against humanity". If imposed immediately, upto 25% or more patients will now be deprived of their AIDS medicine, simply because they cannot afford it anymore.

This brings me to the focal point of this post. Is'nt the main aim of medicine and open markets to save lives and enrich it for "all" concerned?. Why then are the people in third-world countries treated like s^&% just to make sure the coffers of some global behemoths are a few billions richer?. Even with the world becoming as money driven as it is, isnt there some worth for the human life?

Digression: Last weekend I saw "The Interpreter" which talks about genocide in Africa, which while fictional, echoes the very real daily horrors in Darfur. Would it have gotten more attention if it possessed any natural resources that the world needed, like oil, maybe?

A step backwards

2005-04-22T12:38:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week the Papal conclave elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany as the next Pope. Cardinal Ratzinger who now goes by the name of Pope Benedict XVI is a known conservative amongst the candidates who were in consideration for the position. While its expected that the Roman Catholic Church would have mostly conservatives in its midst, this particular selection stands out among the rest for his steadfast beliefs in all the major issues facing the Church and refusing to take the step into the new millennium.

Quoting an article from NY Times, Q|In a document issued in 2000, "Dominus Jesus," the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that Cardinal Ratzinger headed said the Catholic Church was the only true path to salvation and called other faiths "gravely deficient."|Q. Now I am a moderate who believes that everyone is entitled to their religion and beliefs. I think each one of us has our own vision of God and path to Heaven. But for the new leader of 1.1 billion Catholics of the world to have such an opinion makes it a big problem. In an era of religious disputes and faith based problems, do we need one more ?. Shouldnt we be progressing towards a world where religion is what is in one's heart and nothing else?.

In addition, toeing a conservative line even by Church standards, the new Pope is against women in Church, for celibate priests in the Church, against abortion and birth control and definitely against homosexuality. Given all this, I am not sure how the Pope would succeed in mending fences that are tattered all over the globe. From a human perspective, don't we need a open minded healer of differences much more than a divider ?

Lunch with Rajini and tea with Kamal

2005-04-18T09:18:00.000-05:00

Well, it didnt exactly happen the way the title makes it out to be, but it got pretty close. After a long time, I got to see two movies back to back on the same day and that too featuring the last two superstars of tamil cinema. What was supposed to be an afternoon showing of Chandramukhi ended being a double bill with an evening show of Mumbai Express (in tamil, of course). I am not going to review the two movies in detail since fellow bloggers Saran and Jagan have done it already. I will try to compare the two and see how it all pans out.

Chandramukhi is the unlikeliest superstar movie I have seen in the last few years. I mean it has the least Rajini screen time and very few superstar'isms. Gone are the multiple fights, the mannerisms that only Rajini can get away with, the cigarette thigie and what not. In its place is a family friendly ambience with more people in every frame and a story to boot. I had not seen the Malayalam original. So the story was new to me. It was definitely interesting and while it could have been done better, it was definitely not boring and the masala was not excessive. Sans the occasional praising-over-the-top of Rajini and the abominable acting of Jyothika (whoever chose her for the role deserves a kick in the posterior), the movie was derfinitely worth my trip to North Bergen, NJ.

After a half hour trip to the Edison, NJ and a nice snack at Hot Breads, we settled down to watch Mumbai Express. The movie started off hilariously and the humor was excellent. The gags kept coming non-stop and I loved the first half of the movie a lot. It was physical comedy at its best and hats off to Kamal for the screenplay until that point. Once the movie reaches half time, the gags slow down to a trickle and while the movie is still funny and all, the jokes dont elicit that many laughs. The plot gets contorted and well, the story totally loses steam. By the time the climax arrives, you are almost thankful. What could have been a crisp and excellent 2 hour movie ends up being an almost-fantastic but part boring 3 hour experience. While the movie still is way ahead of what goes by the name of comedy in Indian cinema today, it could have been much better with some editing in the second half. Kamal, Pasupathy, Vyapuri and Ramesh Aravind are excellent and on the opposite side of the spectrum, the kid and Manisha Koirala are awful.

Between the two movies, as always, Chandramukhi is more mass friendly while Mumbai Express carries the Kamal stamp of intelligence. The former will unquestionably do much better than the latter. For me, the experience of seeing the two movies on the same day was phenomenal. I have'nt lapped up to any actor since the days of Rajini and Kamal and now I know why. What these stars bring to the table is much more than just histrionics. They bring a level of enjoyment to me and a sense of nostalgia of my youth that is unsurpassed by any other. They make watching Indian movies a sheer joy, as it was always supposed to be.

Eppadi Padinaro

2005-04-12T10:51:00.000-05:00

With the music season in full swing in the Philly area, I have been transported to the temples and auditoriums in Coimbatore where I had first listened to the masters of Carnatic music. The music season used to last all year long and all the top artists had Coimbatore in their itinerary. Be it Corporation Kalai Arangam where the ITC concerts took place or Ramar temple in Ramnagar where there were Aradhanas all year long, it was sheer pleasure listening to the stalwarts. The year end festival at Ayyappan Puja Sangam and the Pongal Music Festival at my alma mater, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, not only featured the maestros but also had slots for now and upcoming artists.

I remember my parents leaving early while my brother and I joined them later. Those days! Ragam Thanam Pallavis were not my cup of tea and the thukkadas were my primary reason to attend concerts. As I grew older and understood music and its nuances better, the significance of RTP sunk into me. I was hooked onto them, thereon. The quick breaks to the nearby bhelpuri stall or the Pazhamudir Nilayam during the Thaniyavardhanam are still fresh in my mind.

Besides getting a chance to interact with the artists, concerts were a place where one could forget all worries and just enjoy wonderful music all evening long. The amusing banter of the critics and the teary eyes of the ardent music fan were very much a part of the experience. Beyond all those wonderful concerts, the nightly listening sessions at home with family over hot Milo or Horlicks are some of my best memories of life in Coimbatore.

Today with concerts in the US being as frequent as they are, I miss my balmy evening trysts with Carnatic music in good old Coimbatore. Someday I hope to get back to that life with far fewer worries and far more music and peace.

Fever Pitch

2005-04-06T14:08:00.000-05:00

Yes, the excitement is indeed Fever Pitch. The baseball season formally began with Opening Day on Sunday. The Champions, Boston Red Sox ( I am still to get out of last October's celebrations) faced the 800 pound gorilla, NY Yankees. The Yanks with sizeable pitching additions to their roster (Big Unit & Carl Parano) are strong favorites to win the championships this year. But then, who can forget the choke of the century last October (Can't beat that one, eh?). The Sox on the other hand have been all talk, all winter long and its time their bats do the talking. Will this be a repeat or will the Yanks rise up to the challenge, only time will tell. But for now, its Sox mania all over again. :)

An interesting aside to the season is a movie named 'Fever Pitch' that is getting released this Friday. Starring Jimmy Fallon (of SNL fame) and Drew Barrymore (of Charlie's Angels fame), the movie is a baseball version of a soccer book by Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) who also serves as a co-producer. Shalini and I got a chance to watch a sneak preview of the movie last week and thankfully, the movie didn't tarnish the glory of the Red Sox. Directed by the Farelly brothers (There's Something about Mary, Shallow Hal) the mild romantic comedy about a hot shot exec (Barrymore) and a Sox crazy school teacher (Fallon) was funny and didnt tarnish the Sox name or the game. Aside from the fact that the climax was shot in St.Louis during last year's
championship and didn't go very well with fans (myself included) the movie used Fenway Park and the lore of the Curse pretty well. A decent time-pass for lovers of Sox, baseball fans (well, Yankees fans excluded) and romantic comedies.

Go Sox!

Update: The third game of the season for the Sox is progressing as this blog is being posted. The Sox have opened badly, but on par with expectations, by losing the first two games to the Yankees. I am not hoping to see any fireworks until mid-season when things hot up. Until then, I shall just soak in the joy of seeing a game a day, everyday.

Writing and Blogging: In English

2005-03-31T16:05:00.000-05:00

After blogging for 7 months and visiting innumerable others, I have observed the unique "bloglish" that populates almost all of them (mine included). One of the reasons I started to blog was to improve my writing skills which had stagnated after my Masters dissertation work. I was desperate to return to writing and writing well. I love writing in English and this was one of my outlets (an enjoyable one, that) to exercise my rusty skills. The experience has been very interesting in that I have learnt how really poor my writing has gotten and how much I need to work on it. Blogs have helped me learn some mistakes and I have being working on correcting them. Emails have almost destroyed the sanctity of good writing and blogs were the last nail in the coffin. Before anyone jumps on me, remember, acceptance is the first step in fixing something.

I am not a lingual purist but I like reading a well written blog. With all the commas and periods and capitalizations in their rightful place and the proper use of grammar, its a readers delight. Agreed that certain posts require region specific answers that do not need to adhere to the general rule. Some posts of fellow bloggers Jagan and Saran are examples to the region issue where Tamil almost always shares equal space with English. Sometimes it appears more personal and casual to write without the rules in place. Very true and definitely not a problem. But in other cases, where the discussion is not regional but global in perspective and content, does it work ?. Does the habit of using one's own English, really take us down a path of no return ?

I am sure some of you feel strongly against my opinion and I shall be glad to hear them. But for those who feel like writing better, here are some suggested readings:

Strunk, William, Jr. "The Elements of Style". Fourth Edition.
This book is the platinum standard when it comes to writing well. Simple, very concise (akin to Ammani's quick tales) and never deviating from the point.

Aldred, Gerald.J, et al. "The Handbook of Technical Writing". Seventh Edition.
This is more for technical writing and less for casual writing.

Van Laan, Krista, et al. " The Complete Idiot's Guide to Technical Writing"
For those who like it the Idiot's way.

Truss, Lynne. "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation"
I have not read this myself but it comes highly recommended for its engaging style in making its case.

Bryson, Bill. "Brysons Dictionary of Troublesome Words"
This is a thoroughly enjoyable tome on the oft repeated mistakes in written English.

Note:
Manoj recommends "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into values" by Robert.M.Pirsig for a good understanding of quality and all things thereof.

If there is heaven on Earth, its here, its now !

2005-03-27T23:09:00.001-05:00

Being an Indian classical music afficionado in the tri-state area is a great feeling. The plethora of interesting concerts in the summer is a fantastic experience, embellished by the fact that I finally have the company, time and resources to enjoy them to my hearts fill.
The season formally kicked off last week with a fusion music concert featuring the violin duo of L.Shankar and Gingger. Playing their unique double violin, the artists pwww.srurovided a unique experience to the audience with a blend of western and Indian classical music. Between a fantastic Kamboji and pieces from the movie, The Passion of the Christ, there were eclectic compositions that were rooted in Indian classical music, yet made the best use of classical western jazz elements. In all, a great experience, topped by a personal tete-a-tete with ex-Shakti violinist, Shankar himself.
Last night, my wife and I were treated to an amazing violin performance by son and daughter of violin maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman, G.J.R.Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi at the local Chinmaya Mission center. A four hour marathon, the concert was brilliant. Completely relying on the classical underpinnings of the artists, the selection of Ragas was wide and thoughtful. Starting with a varnam in Kannada (you read it right, not Kanada), the violin virtuosos appealed to the connoiseurs of Carnatic music with their krithis in Kalavathi, Ranjani, Kedaragowla, Reethigowla, a detailed piece in Kalyani and RTP (Ragam, Thanam, Pallavi) in Hindolam. The latter was accentuated with a casual change of Raga to Kanada, Bhoopalam, Neelambhari and Hamsanandhi. Not to disappoint the casual audience, the Lalgudi siblings played some janaranjaga pieces like Theeradha Vilayattu Pillai (Ragamalika), Rama Mantrava (Jaunpuri), Manasasancharare (Shyama), Kurai Ondrum Illai (an MS piece - Ragamalika) and finally a Lalgudi Thillana in Misra Mandu. The experience was just awesome and I cant wait for more from the duo.
Next week is a Sruti concert, a jugalbandi this time with prodigies Ravikiran (Chitraveena) and Shashank (flute) followed the week after by another jugalbandi with Ustad Zakir Hussain and Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma.
For the music lover in me, its just about close to perfection and I am in heavenly music bliss right now. I know this post probably appeals to a select few but I had to put it down since it was such a great feeling last night after the concert.

Humor anyone ?

2005-03-18T10:20:00.000-05:00

One of the oft argued topics between me and my mother is India is about the programming content in the satellite channels in India. Note that I mention satellite since mainstream Doordarshan and its offsprings have long lost significance in the Indian household. When I was in India until 2000, I used to laugh at my mother and every other middle aged lady that I knew of, sitting and watching weeper after weeper being shown on Sun TV and JJ and what not. Then, I found it amusing to watch completely unbelievable stories being acted out by the worst actors acting can ever produce. The scripts were hackeneyed and so maudlin that it was as if the handkerchief makers had stuck a big time deal with all channels to ensure that the content would produce tears aplenty. Now, if only these tears are the ones you get seeing a Swades or a Braveheart or a Black(I still havent seen this one yet). Unfortunately, no. These tears and all other negative emotions arise from a torturing mother in law, poor daughter in law, philandering husband, drunk husband/father/brother/son, and all permutations and combinations of "bitch" and "a#$%&*e" that a writer with total lack of ideas can conjure.

I moved to the US and got exposed to a *LOT* of sitcoms. Fresh episodes aplenty of Friends and Everybody loves Raymond and Frasier and King of Queens and South Park coupled with reruns of Fresh Prince of BelAir and Cosby Show and the Holy Grail of comedy, Seinfeld have made me realise the joy one gets out of having a laugh, sometimes non stop for 22 minutes. I worship humor at the altar of Seinfeld which I have watched so many times, I have lost count. The subtle humor of Frasier and the utter crassness of South Park and Family Guy, make you wonder, why is there no such programme in India. I remember those days when I was young and Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi and Nukkad and Ghar Jamai used to make me laugh. I ever remember watching reruns of Dekh Bhai Dekh that elicited laughs aplenty. Where are those truly funny serials. Sun TV for its part has singularly associated serials with absurdity and crap. Their comedies are so pathetic, Ill refrain from commenting on them. The few minutes I spent watching TV in India during my last November trip are best forgotten.

This brings me to ask, are Indians people who want to cry and nothing else ?. If thats so, why do so many of us lap up the sitcoms in the US so much. Does that mean that the satellite channels are to be blamed for streaming crap after crap to homes all over the country ?. Or is it really the fault of housewives and old people who sit and watch the load of bullshit being thrown at them morning, noon and night ?

Will we Indians, in India, ever watch an Indian program and laugh out loud with gay abandon at the genuine humor of good writing, ever again ?

2005-03-15T22:20:00.000-05:00

A B&W version of the front of my wedding invitation from last November. Uploaded on request from Noisyparan (http://noisyparan.blogspot.com)

2005-03-13T17:21:00.000-05:00

An experiment in self discovery. You be the judge :)

Internet and Life

2005-03-07T14:40:00.000-05:00

Before I start this post, I'd like to give a shout out to Regina Lynn, whose column regularly appears in Wired. She writes all about sex and technology. If you wonder what thats all about, check out her articles and you'll get a feel for it. Well, I am not here to really write about sex and tech. Regina does it much better. Her column inspired me to write this post and I thank her for that. I am here to write about the bigger picture, our life online and our life, not online.

Many of us who blog and/or read others blogs know very well what I am talking about. Is there any one amongst us who does not feel that our life is increasingly becoming more online, and less of reality ?. There are of course those exceptional ones who balance a fantastic online life with a great social life. But this is not about those select few to whom I bow, by the way. Its for the rest of us, who try to balance a work life, an online life and then our real lives. My wife often complains about me spending too much time on the computer when I am at home. I agree. I am at fault. But then, how do I fix it? We people, atleast those in the US, know about how everything from paying your bills to finding out routes to communicating with people to meeting our potential future partners, do everything on the internet. So how then do we escape the cluthes of the technology that really is only supposed to be there for help, and not take over our lives? Not exaggerating the scenario, I do have a good social life. I go out regularly and my wife and I do stuff that is fun and does not involve the computer. But I can also see that the quality time is courtesy a good wife who shares a penchant for doing stuff, sans the computer. I dread to think of those days before my marriage when I was wedded to my computer and all things tech. If it were not for those few friends with whom I shared some good times, my life would have started and ended with Startup and Shutdown.

I know many readers here are single, working in some good company and making a lot of money, but really not knowing how to spend their time in a way that excites and challenges you. To those people Id ask, any luck yet ? Have you made the critical breakthrough that reinforces your mental supremacy over the control of the machine ? Have you succeeded in seperating your online life from your real life, in flesh and blood ?. If so, where do you draw the line ?

The Complete Song

2005-03-02T13:33:00.000-05:00

Like most of the readers here, I love listening to music. I listen to many forms of music from Indian classical to hindustani to Jazz to blues to hiphop and reggae. While this post isnt about all of them, its about the one form that I listen to the most of the lot: Indian film music. Indian film music has a charm of its own that fuses the best from the aforesaid and many more styles and comes up with an amalgam thats unique in very many ways. Sometimes its inspired and sometimes its blatantly lifted. Sometimes its completely original and sometimes its a mix of all the mentioned. Whatever be the case, film music enthralls the listener to an entirely different level from where he or she is.

I listen to a *LOT* of film music: hindi, tamil, and occasionally telugu and malayalam. Out of the lot of songs, there are some that have a retentive quality thats quite fascinating. I call these "complete songs". A complete song by my definition has all that you expect from a song and more of the same: an addictive and immensely hummable tune, captivating voices singing it for you, likeable and situationally suitable lyrics and as an added feature, nice visuals that pop in front of your eyes, when you listen to the song. If ones inspects these criteria carefully, you can note that there are but only a few songs that will fit the bill. I am in the process of making a list of such songs in the hope of creating a personal "Complete Songs Collection". Any suggestions are very welcome. Some examples to start with are:

1. Chayya Chayya - Dil Se ( ARR, Gulzar, Sukhwinder Singh, Swapna Awasthi, Manirathnam , SRK, Malaika - anything more you can ask for?)
2. Engeyum eppodhum - Ninaithale Inikkum (MSV, Kamalhassan, Rajinikanth, SPB, Kannadasan, KB and the disco fever of the 70s)
3. Ilamai Idho Idho-Sagalakalavallavan (Ilayaraja, Kamalhassan, SPB and the power of dance, I can listen to this one piece all day without getting tired)
4. Chandralekha -Thiruda Thiruda (ARR, Anupama, Vairamuthu, Manirathnam and a whole new meaning to music that rocks)
5. Mettu podu - Duet (ARR, SPB, Susheela, Kadri, Vairamuthu, and KB - if only the marriage of carnatic music and film music is always so good)
6. Thakida Thathumi-Salangai Oli (Ilayaraja, SPB, Vali(?),Vishwanath- the complete song featuring the best of the complete actor)

I have a few more almost there songs but these really are the benchmarks against which I can measure the rest. Any more you can think of ?

We love the game. Do they ?

2005-02-23T09:22:00.000-05:00

Update:
Two days back , something happened in an NCAA basketball game that gave an interesting twist to the arguments we have been having on the quality of sports today. John Chaney, a supposedly ex-hotshot coach of Temple University's basketball team was unhappy with some so called "illegal screens" used by players of St.Josephs and the officials not noting them. He sent in seldom-used 6-foot-8, 250-pound Nehemiah Ingram for the single avowed purpose that he didnt like the way St.Joe's approach to things. What followed was one of the most shameful acts in college basketball history. Ingram became, in Chaney's own words, a goon to show he meant business to St.Joe's players. What was a 6 point game until then was lost on a 16 point margin but the message sure got delivered. John Bryant, the St.Joe's player who was the prime target for Ingram and Chaney is now out of action for the season.
What followed was even worse. Chaney, who has tremendous clout in Temple, took a self-imposed single game suspension for his act. Not the league, not the school, no one had the power to say, he must be suspended for the rest of the season, like the career of John Bryant, who is now going to watch the rest of the season roll by from the benches. This illustrates how much coaches matter in NCAA. A similar act in professional basketball or any other sport would have resulted in atleast 5-7 game suspension for the coach, not to mention sever fines and disrespect. Here, Chaney gets away with just a game, that too self-imposed.
Is this the way sports are going to played in the future ?. An all poweful coach, doing and getting away with what he wants and everyone else just sitting and watching ?

Original Post:
I remember a decade or more years ago when cricket was all that made sense to me. It was pure and blissful and kept me on my tenterhooks all year. And then the match fixing scandal broke out. While I tried rationalising that only a few players were tainted and the game as such was still as pure as it used to be, the enormity of the situation had started to sink in. Its professional and like any profession, there is so much of dirt in it that at this point of time was threatening to obscure the beautiful game that it was.

Fast forward to last year when the doping accusations in baseball started filtering in. BALCO and Barry Bonds were all over the papers and the SF Giants slugger was trying hard to convince the public that he had nothing to do with performance enhancers or steroids, while everyone from his friends in the game (Gary Sheffield) to his trainer to his ex-girlfriend spoke otherwise. Soon Jason Giambi and Sheffield were pulled in and the book "Juiced" released last week, ensured that infamy was here to stay in baseball.

Olympics over the last few years has been filled with doping scandals aplenty. Ben Johnson anyone ?. Late last year and early this year, owners and players of Major League Hockey in the US fought over who gets more money and the talks broke down last week and the announcement that there would be no hockey this season, followed. This time, money was the culprit.

Looking at all these, it begs to be said. Is there no more game in the game anymore ?
Is it all about winning and the adulation and money and not about the joy of being on the arena or the field and enjoying the sheer joy of playing the game ?
While its hard not to be cynical about it, are we at the end of the road for the spirit of sports or what is left of it ?

Wireless Municipalities

2005-02-18T11:11:00.000-05:00

Almost five years ago when I started my Masters program at Virginia Tech, the wireless LAN industry was almost non-existent and wireless was all things cellular. In 2001, the Communication Network Services of VT (parent of my research group) started a pilot WLAN deployment project of which I was a part. It was one of the earliest and largest campus WLAN deployments inspired by the now legendary Wireless Andrew project at CMU. It was an awesome experience at a time when WLAN was bleeding edge.

Cut to today. I live in Philly where the city Mayor recently proposed the setting up of the largest single WLAN network encompassing the entire Philly downtown and some suburbs. I was excited on hearing about it. Philly downtown has three fairly big Universities-UPenn, Drexel and Temple. The aim of the program is to provide affordable high-speed service to low income residents of the city and also the many thousand students who cannot otherwise afford high-speed access. This move which envisions a $10 million investment by private sector and the municipality would result in 4000 wireless antennas hoisted upon lamp posts over the next 18 months. The private sector isnt really enthusiastic since the largest cable operator in the US, Comcast has its headquarters in Philly and doesnt want to pay for something that would reduce its cable internet subscriber base. Verizon Communications also isnt happy since its trying to make money with its $30 a month DSL plan. They believe that the municipality wants to hurt the hand that feeds it in form of donations and taxes.

This brings us to the question: are socialist ideas of taking broadband to every home at affordable prices really the best for the corporate community that feeds the municipality to a vast extent ?

Is the Philly project, arguably the largest such in the country, a landmark event or one big mistake ?

VoIP

2005-02-16T14:43:00.000-05:00

There have been some extra serious topics going around and I thought Ill write about something more generic for people to chew on. Last week I picked up a Vonage broadband VoIP phone connection at home. Have to say it was long time coming. I usually like being ahead of the curve but this one I got in late. Neverthless, it has been a good experience until now. I got a 500 minutes package for 15 dollars a month which includes all the call features including Caller-Id for free and also 800 and 911 calling.I got my Activation fee waived too which was definitely nice and a Linksys router with phone ports that needs to be returned when I disconnect my service. Best of all ,you get to use your old phone and not the headset and computer speakers that are otherwise associated with VoIP.

No wonder the CLECs and RBOCs are not happy. There are already reports of local service providers blocking VoIP service in the fear of losing their revenue streams. Vonage is complaining to FCC about local operators blocking its service and its getting nastier by the day. Meanwhile, elsewhere Skype, while getting good deals under its belt is having Customer Service issues.

For Indians in the US, there are VoIP providers offering unlimited calling to India for 35 dollars a month. And for people who need more than 500 minutes a month, Vonage offers a 24.99 unlimted calling plan. And then there is AT&T CallVantage which has garnered good reviews but is a tad more expensive than Vonage.

All in all, we have a good bunch of options to choose from and with competition hotting up, things will only get better. And in that note, Ill wrap up.

Shameless Plug: If you decide to take a Vonage connection, let me know and I can refer you :)

Update: Pradeep has a good writeup on the overall VoIP picture here.

Whats with Valentine's day and gifting ?

2005-02-10T09:49:00.000-05:00

No, I am not a Shiv Sainik who is against the celebration of V Day because of moral crap. That is pure bullshit from people who have nothing else to do and whose wives dont get the attention they deserve from their husbands. I am a sane, literate person who questions the increasing pressure and focus on V Day. Its been 5 years since I was in India for V Day. So forgive me if I am out of touch with things there.In the US, things are now at a point where the amount of caring and love you have for a person is increasingly being measured in terms of extremely tangible metrics like how many carats is the engagement ring, how many tiers are in the wedding cake and yeah, how many roses did you give to her for Valentine's Day. Added to this are what gifts to give for V Day. Is it thoughtful or insensitive. The works.

I understand that February the 14th is a day for people in love to express in some way or the other, their feelings for their lovers. Cool. I am all for it. But to have the expression of love being measured in terms of material things is taking this a bit too far. I have gifted my girlfriend and now my wife for every single of the V Days we have been together and am glad to note that she doesnt measure my gifts with any yardstick but the fact that I remembered and gave her something. Unfortunately my friends have a whole different story to tell me about their V Days, ranging from getting some really special action or getting none based on their gifts, being kicked out to the couch courtesy a bad gift and so on. Is this really how a Valentine's day is supposed to be ?

Are we losing track of the simple pleasures of live and giving anything and everything a tangible and material twist ?

2005-02-06T23:45:00.000-05:00

We are a dynasty baby! Oh Yeah !
Pictures Courtesy: http://www.boston.com

Dynasty!

2005-02-06T22:20:00.000-05:00

Just a few seconds ago, the New England Patriots nailed their third Super Bowl in four years and picked up the tag of the first dynasty in football in the 21st century. I would love to write and write and write about this victory given the amount of anti-Patriotism I have had to face from Eagles fans in Philly. But I will stop here and soak in the glory.

Attaboy Brady, Teddy, Dillon, Harrison, Dillon, Givens, Branch and every single member of the victorious Patriots. And most of all, attaman Belichick.

We believed and will continue to do so, always.

Go Pats !

PS: No Nipplegate this time around. Sadly.

2005-02-03T22:35:00.000-05:00

Its SuperBowl time and the Patriots are in the SuperBowl, again ! This is me at my work during Interdigital WingBowl 2005.

Is it worth the price ?

2005-02-02T11:40:00.000-05:00

I am heading into a contentious territory where I have debated with many over the last few months. A fellow blogger even wrote a related article on NASA and marketing, a few weeks back to great response and debate. I wouldnt want to take up the big picture but rather focus on one small area, portable music players and the now ubiquitous iPods. For more than a year now, I have drooled over getting myself an iPod. I knew it had much less functionality than many players out there. It was definitely more expensive than the rest of the pack and was more propreitary than most, if you want to put Sony's foolish Atrac NetMD systems at the top of the pile. But the industrial design of iPod and its siblings were enough to dispel all other problems away and let us marvel at the engineering and design that went behind this runaway bestseller.

This brings me to the question, is it really worth the price ?. I succumbed last evening to the lure myself and treated my wife to a iPod Shuffle, the least expensive sibling of the family. Like the rest of the iPod family, the Shuffle gives you some good stuff but also compromises on other useful stuff like a display, FM tuner and a voice recorder. The Creative Micro Muvo N200 has a similar configuration as the iPod Shuffle but with an added FM tuner and display for $30 more. I could have afforded the price. But, then it didnt have the charm of the Pod. As is the case with all other Apple products, are the looks worth the price ?. I certainly thought so and plunked a 100 bucks on it. The sound quality is exceptional and the looks are awesome. The comfort of use is good and so is the process of moving songs into the Shuffle using iTunes. But then you cannot move songs to the Shuffle without iTunes which sucks sometimes.

Time will tell if my decision was wise or not, but for now, my wife loves it and so do I !

A conversation for a movie

2005-01-30T12:51:00.000-05:00

Last night my wife and I finally sat down to watch "Before Sunset" which had come via Blockbuster Online, earlier in the week. I had heard a lot about the movie and was waiting to see the first movie "Before Sunrise" before I saw the sequel. But Blockbuster unfortunately put the first one in a short wait and I had to watch the sequel first. I dont regret it too much as an afterthought. The movie is a rare, almost unheard of "romantic sequel" to a modest cult movie that was released 9 years ago. The first movie is about how a young writer played by Ethan Hawke and a French free-spirited person played by Julie Delpy meet one evening in Vienna. They get to know each other and enjoy their company immensely. They have but one evening to get to know each other before they go their ways, the next morning. While parting, they plan to meet again 6 months hence in the same place, if they were still intent on being with each other. This is the premise of the first movie, as described here.

The second movie, picks up 9 years later with the hero, now a writer, promoting his book in Paris and the heroine, now an activist with Green Cross, comes to his last book signing before his evening flight to NY. The two pick off the strands of their past and what happened between the fateful evening in Vienna and today. The entire movie is a conversation between the two, set amidst the glory of summertime Paris. While it seems to be a bore to watch two people just talking throughout the 80 odd minutes, rest assured, you'll be more than surprised. The movie is unbelievably real and you can feel as if you are there as a third participant in the conversation that traverses a multitude of topics ranging from Buddhist monks to death to lost love to the history of Notre Dame to sex and what not. The movie's screenplay written by Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater (the director) themselves, sparkles with amazing insight into the flaws and strengths of human character and is a fantastic study of the two common place individuals in a unique situation. Needless to say, the climax is really the piece de resistance. You dont see it coming and when it does, you have a smile on your lips that tells you, there is always hope at the end of the tunnel.

I am now waiting to see the first movie and while I do that, I very strongly recommend you see one or both of them. Rarely do we get to watch movies where it not technique or the cinematography or the stars or anything else which is a staple of most movies today, that really matters. For once its about people and their emotions and simply wonderful character interplay between the protagonists. No more. No less.

2005-01-24T22:24:00.000-05:00

A Collage of photos taken during the snowstorm that hit Northeast United States last weekend.

www.blogmatrimony.com

2005-01-21T09:48:00.000-05:00

A few days back while I was discussing stuff related to blogging with some friends, I came across this unanimous feeling that many people are possibly using blogs to impress people of the other sex. Now before you start raising the cudgels against me, give me a patient hear and then decide.

A friend of mine used to tell me that he had a domain registered and maintained a website just to impress women. He got married and voila, the site is taken down :). A week or so back there was an interesting conversation in a fellow blogger's site about how female bloggers attract more posts than their male counterparts. While I argued that it isnt true, a nagging feeling in me indicated otherwise. Do many bloggers blog because they truly want to put their thoughts and feelings out there, or do they blog just to get the attention and consequently the partner they deserve. While it might be a very far shot at the least, it is not Utopian for sure.

Blogs in essence are about a person's passions and his or her thoughts that he or she would like to discuss with friends in public. Would this also not be the best means to put your inner self out there in the hope of landing a good partner for life ? I think it makes a lot of sense, IF the person's writings truly reflect the personality. Writings, attitudes and feelings can be easily faked in the world on blogging and to get completely carried away to the extent of considering a person as a life partner would then be utterly stupid. In an online world where males pose as females and chat and vice versa, would it make sense to trust a blogger's words ?

Finally, given all the aforesaid arguments, would a person be able to pick (and correctly at that) a good life partner from blog-dom ? Here is to one such couple and the pathetic tamil film that is going to get spawned (if its not already in the works) as a result of love by blogging :)

God and the Tsunami

2005-01-14T10:51:00.000-05:00

I have been reading and hearing a lot of interesting interpretations of the Tsunami from people of various religious beliefs and aspirations. As a believer in the existence of a greater being, I am confused as to how to interpret this situation.

As people of many faith chime in www.beliefnet.org, religion can be used to account or discount the reason for the Tsunami. Some said that it was God punishing us for losing track of our morals, while others said while they believed in the existence of God, the Tsunami was not his act. If I were to believe in the omnipotent God, how can I accept an argument that he was not responsible for the Tsunami. One Indian religious group went to the extent of attributing the Tsunami as a punishment from God for putting the Kanchi Seer behind bars. Given that it struck areas where religion assumes tremendous significance, it is hard to fathom the reasoning behind the death of so many of His or Her believers. Each religion tries to twist this cruel fate of nature to its own interpretation of sorrow and eventually redemption. But if we look through the eyes of the lonely fisherman who has lost all of his family and friends and livelihood, its hard to put things in the perspective.

A fellow blogger gave a positive twist to the whole thing by saying the Tsunami brought people together as never before. While I can see his logic, I cannot agree to that completely. Would God destroy his poor and diligent followers while letting the rich and probably more cynical to survive ? The existence of Heaven and Hell, while giving a spiritual explanation to how God treats followers, does little to explain the so many deaths of young and old, male and female.

Or is it, as scientists and even the engineer in me, says, its an act of nature. No more. No less. Tsunami's are events of nature that happen due to shifting of plates and one such happened here. And it will probably be another 400 years before we see another in the Indian Ocean.

Is there a God and if so, what was His or Her role in the Tsunami ?

Update:
01/17/2005: And now a Virus in the name of seeking AID for the Tsunami. The world continues in its ways, Tsunami or no Tsunami.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5539215.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdnet

Swades: We, the people

2005-01-10T14:22:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I got a chance to watch Swades, a new Hindi movie by the maker of Lagaan, starring Shah Rukh Khan. I have to say, it was a fantastic experience. Much has been written about whats wrong with the movie and why it flopped. Let me write whats right with the movie, especially since it assumes so much significance for all of the readers of this blog.

Swades is a story about an NRI finding out how much his country needs him and going back, "To light the bulb", to use the line from the movie. For once the hero is a flawed character who works with NASA and wants to continue doing his stuff in the US but when he makes a short trip to India, sees how much he can really make a difference. Before you can jump on the "movie on brain drain bandawagon", the protagonist gets to bounce his ideas on an illiterate lot in a God forsaken part of India. While I was watching the movie, so much of it made sense to me. A lot of it stuck me as so true. The idea that the country needs us is put across so beautifully. And before all the software engineers who sneer at us desis in US get to do their victory laps, let me say this. Folks, wake up and smell the coffee. SRK gets to exploding the myth that is so rampant in India that inspite of all illiteracy and poverty and corruption, we are the greatest country in the world because of our "culture and tradition". As SRK says, while we have the potential to become the greatest country in the world, we are nowhere close to it. So true. We talk of values while we can neither control the sleeze on screen nor the double standards of so called moral police like Shiv Sena. We talk of tradition and refuse to break away from the caste system that has almost ruined the education and public sector employment system. We call the western world as unmoralistic and what not. Hey, it doesnt hurt to do what you like and not hide behind moralistic morass.

The movie boasts of some fantastic music and meaninful lyrics to boot. Each song makes the viewer think deep. Something that is so sorely missing from the songs of today. There are thankfully no duets in Switzerland nor is there the comic sidekick to the hero. The movie tells as story and it does that really well.

Yes, our country needs us. As the Mela Ram character so succintly puts it, "Whats the use in putting a lamp outside your house that lights not yours but your neighbours porch". Someday we, or atleast I will go back home to do my best for my country. Until then I shall do my mite in helping my country progress, albeit indirectly. I would like to light my bulb someday, in India and while that day is not tomorrow, it sure isnt far away.

Do watch the movie and trust me, you wont walk away without thinking about it afterwards.

Saying NO to external aid

2005-01-06T11:47:00.000-05:00

As many of you might have read as I did with a lot of curiosity and maybe disappointment or joy, the Indian government refused foreign aid for the Tsunami relief efforts. While it opened its gates to relief agencies and NGOs, Indian said "No, thanks" to the global consortium of donors for the Tsunami relief effors like Australia, Unites States, UK, Japan and much of Europe.

When I first read the piece of news , I was shocked. I do understand that a 1 bn plus populace (with a lot of dollar expatriates) can fund the relief efforts. But saying No and then changing the stance could be political hara-kiri. And true to this thought, India amended its policy for forign aid to include organisations like World Bank since it realised that the donor efforts were far from sufficient. A political dichotomy seems to exist in India which wants to have US as a close ally in this fight against nature but cant align itself publicly by refusing to commit to the core group as requested by the US. What are we telling the world here ?

While many claim that India wants to assume more prominence as a player rather than a ballboy in the global political scene, it might be churlish to ward off support when it truly needs it. The UN which has swung into action in Indonesia and Sri Lanka has not made any entry into India courtesy the No invite policy. Are we setting a bad precendence here?

Yes, India is a big country which is heading towards completely self-sufficiency (if oil can be discounted from the picture). But are we capable enough to manage and coordinate massive relief efforts on the aftermath of natural disasters ? Money might not be a requirement someday. But what about advanced technology at the site of disaster to ensure food and medicines reach the farthest corners immediately. Does life justify the cost of continuing to be a regional power or a future UN Security Council seat ? Are we missing the big picture ?

Are we fools as an nation or is this the beginning of an era of significant Indian presence in the global political arena ?

The Big Apple

2005-01-02T16:12:00.000-05:00

So I made on more trip to NYC on New Years Day (not the Eve, thanks but no thanks). There is something about the Big Apple that draws me to it time and again. And coming from a fanatic RedSox fan, it is something. The city has this aura of mystery and at the same time universal appeal. My wife, cousin and I landed at Times Square at night and true to its nature, the area was crowded and brimming with life. The place was abound with its trademark tourists and hawkers and lovers and families and singles looking for company. If there is one place in the world where every possible combination of the colors in the basic palette can be viewed, it is here. The electricity used up the the neon hoardings would be enowwwugh to light up a small nation for a week or more. For all its ostentatious display of color and money, the place appeals to your heart like none other on a breezy winter night.

I have visited Times Square enough times and more. But somehow I feel like going there again and again. It has a magnetic draw that is difficult to resist. I still have the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park and the Guggenheim left to see (among the more popular tourist destinations, of course). Also in the list is a Broadway play with my wife which has been a dream for a long time. If only Bombay Dreams had lasted a little longer !

For the Indian in me, a trip earlier in the day to Queens and then the Hindu temple in Flushing, NY was a lot of fun. The temple was glorious and amidst the surging crowds on New Year's day, I spent a few minutes praying for a better year ahead. The tsunami definitely warranted a shout out to the dead and the future of the displaced and homeless survivors. The Indian canteen in the tempe campus was a great place to get some tasty south Indian food and if it were not for the hour long wait, the entire experience would have been just fantastic.

In all, it was a nice day long trip that definitely set the tone for more such future trips to the Big Apple.

Some photos from my trip can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rangaprabhu

Tsunami Support

2004-12-29T14:50:00.000-05:00

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 !

2004-12-25T14:10:00.000-05:00

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

2004-12-20T11:54:00.000-05:00

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 ?

2004-12-16T15:02:00.000-05:00

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 i t.

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...

2004-12-14T00:26:00.000-05:00

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!

2004-12-10T11:55:00.000-05:00

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?

2004-12-07T16:02:00.000-05:00

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.

2004-12-03T23:35:00.000-05:00

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

Life in the crowded slow lane

2004-12-01T16:49:00.000-05:00

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.

God takes sides...

2004-11-05T22:58:00.000-05:00

God takes sidesâ¦.
(An Editorial article without the usual links and what not)

Or so we have been lead to believe in the last few months. In India,
when the elections happen, religion comes to the forefront rearing its
ugly head. The socialists are quick to pounce on it and start
aligning themselves with the so-called non-religious groups trying to
castigate the religious right. This sort of politics has been one that
has earned ridicule for the country both from within and from the
outside. Even being a person of faith, I was disgusted to see the
temple or mosque or church and state coupled so tightly together in
determining the future of the country. For long I looked at the US as
that democracy that strictly delineated the church from politics. The
country elected its leader not based on his faith but his adherence to
his principles for the better good of the country. While the 2000
elections first sowed the seeds of doubt in my mind, this election
confirmed the fact that say what one may, the US is as religiously
fanatic as any other country in the world, albeit in a different form
and manner.

Ohio was the most affected state in the entire union due to the
economic downturn. While the bosses in the Eastern seaboard continued
to prosper (thanks for some good tax cuts), much of rural America
struggled as more and more manufacturing jobs were lost and more sons
sent to the war in Iraq. The Iraq war has been the bloodiest in the
last couple of months and marines are lost everyday to suicide
bombers. Estimates put the civilian deaths in Iraq at more than
100,000. Given all this statistics, one would expect anyone standing
against the GOP candidate and now President elect George Bush to win
with overwhelming margins (Reagan, anyone?). But that was not to be.
Not only did the President wrap up Ohio but he gained all of 4 million
votes more than last election and won the popular vote which he lost
by half a million to Al Gore. The states that lost the most since 2000
were the states that overwhelmingly voted for Bush. The lower and
middle-income people turned up in droves to vote for their President.
What happened?

Well, for starters, the opponent of President Bush should have been
Howard Dean. People were finding it hard to differentiate between Bush
and Kerry. And for those who didn't, the GOP hype machine created
enough fear in the minds of people to make them vote Republican.
Fear, as someone said is always the key. This time it definitely was
the case. But what really clinched the deal for President Bush was his
ability to reach out to the vast evangelical moderates and Christians
who in the past had not voted or divided their vote between the two
parties. This time, the issues of embryonic stem cell research, gay
marriage and abortion stuck a very big chord with the increasingly
religious American populace. While Kerry initially downplayed his
religious beliefs, he was forced to play that card for the risk of
losing a big chunk of votes and lose he did.

For once, the economy, a losing war and a possible draft did not rank
among the issues that made a difference in the presidential elections.
Instead, fear and a generous helping of church going voters ensured
that the President stayed in the White House for another four years.
While I hope for a more sanguine and fiscally and environmentally more
responsible government in the second term, it definitely scares me to
think that in America too, religion is given that much importance in
the election of its Commander-in-Chief.

Election 2004 - Its finally here !!!

2004-11-01T15:16:00.000-05:00

So it is finally here. After almost a year of hectic and by now, mind numbing campaigning, it all comes down to tomorrow. Senator John Kerry, the Democratic candidate from Massachusetts squares off against the Republican Party candidate and President George W. Bush. In what promises, at least according to the gazillion polls and surveys and statistical analysis, the results are too close to call and until the last bunch of results come in late night tomorrow, nothing is certain. In fact, predictions of a repeat of the 2000 elections where the Chad and Florida were at the center of a electoral controversy unlike any other have also not been ruled out.

Watchdog organizations believe that a turnout greater than 115 million could favor Senator Kerry and a lower turnout would help President Bush. Early polling numbers indicate that the turnout is expected to be much better than the last elections at least because of what is at stake this time. At stake are the country’s foreign policy and also the economy. While pundits predict that it might be homeland security that eventually decides the winner, many believe that some core issues like the environment and pollution have conveniently been swept aside.

Senator Kerry goes into the polls hoping that he has convinced the American people hard and enough that he is not the flip-flopper as he has been made out to be. His questionable decisions to support and oppose many bills in the senate have gotten him into much more trouble than he would have wanted them to. But he has made his bones working hard and uncovering major scams like the BCCI bank issues in the nineties. This points to a resolute individual who does not give up on anything he has started. In addition, the fact that he did go to Vietnam and came back to protest against the war talks of an individual who does his duty for the country but does not hesitate to question the purpose of the very war he went to fight. To stand up against what he thought was a wrong war after fulfilling his responsibilities for his country fighting the very same war speaks very highly of John Kerry’s character. In the final count, what would matter is if people believe he can safeguard the country against future terrorist attacks.

President George W. Bush has been the forerunner for most of the election campaign barring the weeks following the presidential debates. While his ability to relate to the locals in rural America has got him all the support he needs and more, his performance over the last four years have not really been as perfect as the Republican Party machinery has led us to believe. While the Afghan war was fully justified and supported by countries world over, the Iraq war has never quite been truly justified. The weapons of mass destruction are nowhere to be found nor are even the evidences of one such policy by Saddam Hussein. The 9/11 committee has categorically ruled out any significant relation between Al Qaeda and Saddam. The war is far from over and even as I type this blog, Fallujah is being ravaged by one of the most intense battles in the last couple of months. Last week alone has seen the death of more than 15 Marines not to mention the scores of innocent Iraqi civilians. The war seems to be never-ending and the insurgents seem to be gaining the upper hand by the day. This is far from the phenomenal and catastrophic success it has been made to be by President Bush and Vice President Cheney. In addition, it is undeniable that the respect and reputation of the US in the World arena is at its lowest in many decades. From being the liberator and champion of democracy, the United States has become the poster boy for the evil effects of being a superpower. This reputation needs to change and it seems unlikely that it would happen with President Bush at the helm. But to the Presidents credit, his popularity among the conservatives in America is at the highest in many years and so is his unique ability to reach out to the masses especially in the heartland states of America. The economy has not made many strides since 2000 even if we choose to ignore the lost jobs and fall in manufacturing. The President is campaigning on the sole platform of national security and it would be interesting to see if that alone gets his elected to a second term at office.

This election, there are more swing states than ever before not to mention the possible surprises that can be thrown up by traditional Red and Blue states like Arkansas and New Jersey respectively. In the heart of the swing states are people who have started complaining about being inundated with calls and ads and visits from party cadres to the point that they are tired of it. Residents of Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, New Mexico, Arizona, New Hampshire and a few other states not to forget Florida are at the unique position of determining the next President of United States.

In all, the elections and the days that follow will make for tremendous drama and very many surprises. But what is undeniable is the fact that the voting public is divided as they have never been before and this kind of divisive politics will continue to haunt the next President of United States.

And by the way, if this blog from me is any indication, there are million such and some important ones are listed here.