Public Transport

It has been a while since I used public transport.

Traveling by the subway at NY helped me relive those beautiful college years. Its a pleasure to...

- Gauge how well your instincts are working by identifying the person who is most likely to vacate a seat when you are standing

- Develop bond with strangers about whom the only things that you know are the time they travel, the station where they get off, their wardrobe size and variety

- Identify bathing frequency, music preferences of a few specifically "intrusive" co-travelers.

- be worried more about the body shape of the person next to you than yourself.

The one that thrills me most and annoys my next-seater is my desire to read the book/newspaper they are reading..

Multi-tasking

Like every aspiring opening batsman must face Australian pace at Perth, every sloth should be away from home for a while.

It will make him realize that dishes don't wash themselves, the washing machine doesn't get your collars cleaned, managing money doesn't mean asking someone to shove money kept in locker to the purse, best tasting food isn't a result of food grains natural evolution, when you leave the coffee mug right next to the couch it just remains there.

For pampered souls like me, living in a foreign land away from, emotionally manipulated or paid for, support structure is a god-send.

At the end of each day, when I take in deep breath and mutter silently "Phew, that was one helluva tough day", I realize, I didn't have to manage a kid, in-laws and an attention craving, perennially irritable and perpetually dreamy husband.

However hard a man tries, he can never multi-task with the dexterity of a woman (and specifically a woman I am in love with). I say this even if someone accuses me of being a female chauvinist!

Project Management at Google

This is a nice way of saying....

"You know what, we missed the project delivery schedule by just a few days".

New York Nagaram - Desi Observations

I know I am sounding like Jurassic park but I had warned "observations will continue"

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Western women outnumber Indian women on the street by an order of 100 to 1.
The number of pregnant Indian women easily outnumber pregnant western women by an order of 10 to 1

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You walk into a desi restaurant for dinner as you are late from work.
The restaurant would be so understaffed that an order like Veg Biryani, which is essentially heat-it and serve-it dish, would take longer to arrive than to cook a "delicacy" by your own, do the dishes and sink to a dreamy sleep of wife, family and home

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Wife and husband would drive a $ 20,000 SUV to a laundromat to wash, dry and fold the clothes together.every other weekend. Why don't they buy a washer, dryer at home instead, if they can afford that $ 20,000 SUV?

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In each college there are these stunning women, who the entire male population lust after. (In our college it was Sunita Gopal, how I miss ogling her even now). It was always a matter of great intrigue - Where did these stunners disappear to after college as you rarely see stunningly beautiful aunties in India. Most of them are seen standing in the NJ - NY subways carrying shiny leather bags, reading fat novels and listening to western classical musical in their iPods. Sunitas of the world, get out of your cocoon and grace the Indian streets occasionally - most of your fans feel left behind!

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Software Engineering

There is a saying in hindi that you should never spit in the plate that you eat from and a general rule that you dont belittle the trade that so many of your friends and relatives profess. I will make an exception and say...

Software is not Engineering!

New York Nagaram

New York isn't half as beautiful as they show in the movies, it is twice as beautiful.

Few observations so far

- People are non-judgmental and generally helpful
- Women celebrate the summer by wearing dresses catering to the basal needs of men
- The subways are cellphone blackholes
- When people wear the "I Love NY" tshirt, they are not wearing a silly memorabilia but they are wearing their heart on their sleeve

Observations will continue....

Rs. 10 God

I hate writing cynical rants, as I am a cynical person and want atleast my writing not to be so. However, this trip to Tirupati to see the other Balaji woke up the slumbering cynic inside me.

I was saddened to see humans selling priceless god for an "appropriate" price. For Rs. 10 one can get an additional serving of prasad, for Rs. 50 an additional laddu and for a princely sum of Rs. 100, the head priest would let you inhale the divine smell of the robe that the Lord wore the previous day. I found the whole thing obnoxious to say the least, though I must admit I was a silent recipient of all the above travesties.

Don't get me wrong, I am an intensely religious person in the silent sort of way. This mindless perversion of religion by the proponents occupying the highest chairs is saddening and shocking. It reminded me and for the first time in my life nod my head in approval to the lines Sivaji (Oh, I mean Sivaji Ganesan and not the Boss) spoke in Parasakthi.

It is symptomatic of the way things are around us, wrong people in important positions abusing their power to serve their selfish needs.

As I saw Him amidst all these pimps of a great religion, I muttered a silent prayer for Him and His well-being!