Au Chem 94-98 Get Together 2008.

While I was watching the LifeTime made for TV movie 'A Kiss at Midnight' with Seshu (my wife), I decided to post something on my blog. Yes, it is a great chick flick and I was giving her company doing my own thing. While the movie was going and Seshu was deeply engrossed in the trivial travails of romantic misgivings of a mother and daughter, I began to think about the get together with my friends from college the day before(12/26/2008).

I was hoping to mark the title of this blog '10 get together in 10 years', but the numbers did not add up. There were about 10 in 86 from our class who I thought (read hoped/wanted) would meet for the NE USA gathering. But only 5 made it to the eventual meeting. Rajashekhar agreed to be the gracious host in his new bought spacious home in Easton, PA. Aravind took care of the food. Sarat Chand drove in from Plainsboro, NJ alone as Sireesha could not make it due to her current situation. Raghu Ram drove in from NJ also where he is currently vacationing at this Brother-in-Laws place. I joined them from Scranton. Krishna Mohan got sick and Sai mailed that he couldn't come this time. Sai you took a rain check (You said in the mail'...Now I know that you are in PA and not very far away...will catch up with you later...').

Of the four classmates, I had met few previously and some I had spoken to over the phone. But it was the first time in 10 years meeting them for much of the evening. I was supposed to be the last one reaching Konda's home, but if not for 5 minutes I would have been the first. Time is a precious commodity once lost can never be recovered and I wanted to use this oppurtunity to catch up on lost time. As a side note on time, here is good speech on Time Management by Randy Pausch. It is long, but humorous and touching at the same time.

It was 6:30 when Aravind, the last among us came in. We all introduced each other to our families. Yes, I am getting old - I am talking about family in my discourse. When the families got settled down and got familiar with each other, we had our own chit chat session at the dining table.

The discussions ran helter-skelter on a gamut of topics from Roll 1(Chemical 1-Wahid) to 512(Petro Chem 12-Saran), Faculty(KVR, ARP etc.,), Hostel life, Seniors (Laxman Nyaya, Kameswari, SSS, Mouli, ChandraShekhar, Revanur etc), Juniors(Sampath, Madhavi etc.,), Other Branches at AU, Politics, Professional life as well as Personal. Politics ranged from Somalia to Belarus, Economics from Inflation in Zimbabwe where currency had expiration date to Outsourcing to Belarus where retention is higher than in India.

The discussion also ran into prosperity - the bigger the belt line the greater the prosperity. Sarat was to dishonor me with the distinction of being the least prosperous. Leaving aside the award for the prosperous person, my vote for consistency will go hands down to Aravind. I found him to be much like what I had pictured him 10 years ago. The rest four of us had some nature(read genetic) induced reductions and self induced additions to our morphological forms.

We discussed about what each of us was doing now and what/where we doing/were since 1998. We talked about careers, wealth made by some and lost by some. We also discussed about how some went places and some went nowhere in the conventional sense of material well being. We also talked about the bachelors in town and the first family(Sireesha Nallaapaneni among girls and Wahid among guys).

I surely had a great time and I hope others did too. The spouses looked like they had a fun time discussing what appeared to me was mostly about kids - kids are one common thread to a discreet set of people who were there because we were there.

Please find the link to the pictures from the get together here. If the link doesn't work try this in your browser http://tinyurl.com/7cm5c6.

Have you seen my Brain Cells?

One day at work, a bunch of our colleagues were going to a restaurant for lunch. I was waiting at the elevator lobby for a long time with them. Right when it came, I remembered that I had forgotten something. So I got excused and went to my desk, picked my wallet from the drawer. One my way back to the elevator lobby, another good colleague friend asked me, what is happening. I said I am losing my brain cells. 'Let me know if you find them', I said half jokingly. Having a good sense of humor, she replied 'I will keep them if I find any'.

A few weeks later, there was an event at work called 'Casual for a Cause'. Basically the idea is to solicit donations for a cause and the donor can wear casual for that day. I was informed about it a week or so before the event and I agreed to donate. The day happened to be a Tuesday. This was the day when this bird does its weekly migration down south to Philadelphia.

I forgot about the event and got dressed in formals. When I came down to put on my shoes, the ‘casual cause’ struck my memory. Now I had to change pants. I went up and changed my pants to jeans. In my normal senses, I would remember to transfer the contents from my formals to my jeans. Not this time. I went down, had my breakfast, took the car keys and went straight to the car. As soon as I headed to the car and put my laptop bag in the car, I thought about the tea that I had left on the kitchen table. I went back, picked up the flask and began my ride. After a few yards, I saw the gas sign and looked for my wallet. I had to go back again. This time I thought I had everything that I needed. So I took off for the highway.

After about 30 miles down the road I remembered that I don’t have my cell phone on me. It is my habit to call India on my drive to Philadelphia. I could not imagine myself without a cell phone for three days. So again I drove back home. I went up to my bed room to find the cell phone. But as the Murphy's law states, I could not find the cell phone there. Actually the cell phone was in my formal pants that I had switched for jeans earlier in the morning. Now where is that pant. It is neatly folded and kept in my travel bag. This I recollected. So where is the bag I thought?

Well, the bag was in the trunk of my car. I had the cell phone in my car all this while. I ended up going 2 hours late to work and smilingly gave my $5 contribution towards my 'Casual for a Cause'. So much for the cause. As someone rightly said 'No good dead goes unpunished'.

Long before this happened I would think, what is wrong with my parents? They keep saying that are losing memory. I would, with air of arrogance, say ‘How can that happen?’. I explained to them that it is all in the mind. If you put your mind to it, you would not have this problem. So instead of letting your mind wander, think about the current work you are doing. If that does not work, may be you should write down a checklist of things to do etc. All of that was BS.

The memory loss virus has hit me quite early. As life becomes more and more complex, I am carrying more and more items. They have become a way of life though they are not necessities. The following is the list of items I need to carry - Wallet, cell phone, keys, IPod, office id and of course chap stick. I have created a mnemonic for my end of drive - LWICK that stands for Lights, Wallet, IPod, Cell phone, Keys. First I thought of LKWIC and WLICK but no combination of them sounded any better than LWICK. If only I can remember the mnemonic every time I need it.

A few weeks later, I was having a severe headache at work and was visibly different than my normal self. The same lady who wanted to keep my brain cells enquired if I was doing fine. She joked that I was working hard and that I should be taking it easy. I replied that cause of my headache is my brain cells that are actively multiplying to make up for the lost cells. I hope that there are truly multiplying. If not, I would have to see my mother-in-law's sad demeanor many more times on watching me go in and out several times that day of my adventure. She was probably feeling sad for her daughter for having to put up with an absent minded man like me.

Who is Bummerman?

Coincidence or not, I meet Bummerman every time I post a blog about him. My first post on him can be found here and the subsequent one here. I met him this time under the same bridge he used to live few months ago. I was on my way home to my car on a chilly Thursday evening.

I said 'Hello'. He remembered me quite well and said 'Hello, I haven't seen you after we met at the park'. I was pleasantly surprised to hear him remember me and our conversation. I asked him what he was up to these days. He replied that he is reading Sociology and Political Science. I said to myself 'Sociology. Interesting coincidence.' I on the other hand, have seen him couple times, but I was either in a rush to go to work or he was sleeping until now where we were both in between our next scheduled rush hour.

He said that he is trying to catch up on his reading. I asked him if he attended college. He said he did for a short time at Temple. I asked if he thought about going back and completing college. He said, he had thought about it, but it gets difficult to go back to college after a big break like the one he has taken as 'they make it difficult to take back students like him'. I took his 'they' as University admissions.

I asked him where he has been living these days, he replied 'Here and there, I try to sleep in the day and walk around with my bike in the night'. I saw his bike loaded with his belongings leaning on the fence under the bridge and a backpack next to him on the ground. I remember that the other side of the fence used to be his home for a long time and how he would keep the block clean for pedestrians like me.

He asked how my work was. I said it was fine and that I was heading to my car. I saw the traffic on the interstate behind the Schuylkill River in front of the brightly lit Philadelphia Boat House Row. If you have not been to Philly, Boat House Row offers a spectacular view of a row of Regatta clubs brightly lit whose shadow fall in the Schuylkill River.

I saw the traffic and said that is where I am headed and I am not much interested going there, though I have to. He then said 'Are you still analyzing'. I was shocked a bit to hear that question. For a moment I thought, did he suspect me of analyzing him. It took me only a second or two to understand what he meant by that. I recollected my previous conversation with him where I stated that I was a System Analyst. I described my job and what I do at my client’s location. He remembered all that clearly and was only inquiring about my job casually.

He had no hidden agenda behind that question. I on the other hand, had an agenda. I am only talking to him because I want to know about, his past, his present and most importantly the circumstances that lead to his current state. I felt largely guilty for trying to find about him and write about him without his consent. Am I subconsciously seeking guilt pleasure of peeking at a different world and a different life that he is part of and one I want to study? Having recovered from the shock on being asked the question, I replied that work is still the same old and nothing was new there. It was getting late and the traffic was only getting worse.

I said my goodbye and before I walked past him, I remembered that I need to know his name. I asked 'What's your name? I forgot'. He replied Roy. I asked ‘What is your last name?’ to which he answered Gibson. So there it is Roy Gibson. I shall address him as Roy from here on. He patted me on the shoulder and said 'Take care and drive safe'. I said 'Take care' and walked off from there towards my car thinking about the three hour drive that I was about to take. The impending road rage consumed my mind and all the guilt I felt a few moments ago was long forgotten.

What happened to prudent living?

Being prudent with your life and your lifestyle is the single most thing I learned from my parents. There are times I felt if I am like a dinosaur among the easy credit user folks around me. As they say, for every question, time provides an answer. Sooner than I expected, I found the answer in the current financial crisis. As most of us know, the credit based lifestyle is what caused this mess and the virtues of prudence are being sung along with the Christmas Carols.

I have always been afraid of debt. I have not used my first credit for almost year and half as I was afraid of the word credit. I could not fathom the fact that I had to pay somebody 12.99% interest for what I used for convenience. I did know that if I paid the monthly statement in full, I did not have to pay the interest. I still was afraid of the late fee in case I forgot to pay it off and I was also worried that I have to spend the 33cents on the stamp. To me that was an extra expense when I was only earning $400 a month. My monthly rent then was $220 and international calling card bill from AT&T was almost $50 leaving me with only $130 for the other expenses.

The vices of current society have devised their tangles in a way to lure everyone into its arms. I my case, the draw to credit card use was credit history building. I have been bombarded by well wishers and media stating that I need to have a good credit history. The lure is the fact that a good credit history is imperative to get loan for a home or a car in the future. The real estate boom was only beginning then, and I did not want to miss out on that boom by not having a good credit history. All I have to do was swipe my card and it builds history. It is that easy I was told.

I had my share of missed payments where I was penalized. I would pick up a phone, I would apologize to the CR rep and get the fee waived off. I have also three laptops in the last three years. In hindsight one of them was probably not warranted.I also bought a car that died on me in 3 months and had a laptop stolen all in the gap of a month. Barring those two, I think I have been prudent and been careful of my possessions. I never paid interest on any statement, excepting the month where I missed my payments when I got my late fee waived. I have always bought the big items with cash or have used the 0% APR convenience checks that the credit card companies mail ever so often. If I don't, I delayed the purchases until it was absolutely necessary. Clothing and kitchen items are an exception. I have to blame the Gabriel brothers from Morgantown, WV where I could get clothing for T-shirts for a buck or two. Kitchen items are not my blame.

Reading news is like one horror story after other. People were offered mortgage loans with nothing to show as seed and income. Financial firms were allowed to borrow 30-40 bucks on a single dollar of assets. Since they had no skin in the game they risked all of it, packaged and repackaged them to numerous clients.

Long before these news stories broke, I have seen some amazing characters who had absolutely no concept of prudence. Our next door neighbor in Vizag was one. The family was a bunch of misfits lead by the mother. She would manage a rotating loans from multiple people. Spend it off and when it is time to repay, take a loan from someone else. If no body is willing to loan, there were the chit funds. After she exhausted the friendly neighborhood chit funds, she turned to finance firms. That was where the buck stopped. Finance firms unlike ordinary people do not use the conventional methods of repetitive pleading. They use the method of what can be called an Italian job.

She had to sell her inheritance and moved out of the city to rented home in the suburbs. She had fun while it lasted and fun continued for the neighbors watching the drama unfold. I know someone in my family who bought a flat panel TV in India for Rs. 200,000 or $4,000. Crazy isn't it. I hope someday sense returns to people as to how they spend their money and lead their lives.

Did I reap something?

This is a follow up previous post dated 06/28/2008 on my experiment with indoor gardening. My goals were really simple. I was hoping to see some flowers in my wife's hand and atleast a pepper in my food. I think I have achieved both the objectives but at a small steep price of $10/pepper. That pepper must be priciest pepper. The cost of flower in my wife's hand - priceless.
There is space between the images and the text which I am not sure how to remove. Please pardon.

Obama is the man

We are in historic times in all aspects. The last decades have been stagnant across the world with conservatism growing by leaps and bound. Tolerance to incompetence and acceptance of mediocrity went hand in hand. It was high time that a change was in place. Infusion of yound blood into the age old era of politics has always energized a sleeping nation. I believe Obama is that change and USA was that sleeping nation that will be changed forever under his leadership.

An Indian Needs his Fire.

If you are an Indian, you need your food to be hot. Hot not in the sense of being 100F or 120F, but in the sense of being spicy. We need it as hot as it can be. If you are new to US of A the closest fast food that would satisfy an Indian’s appetite for spicy food is Taco Bell. I have no doubt when I say, that the best way to curtail Indian Immigration is shut down all Taco Bells in USA.

An Indian can survive any inclement weather, any harsh working conditions as long as can get his spicy food. You take it away, his world crumbles. The other thing that Indians are fond of is Traveling. Have you seen any tourist destination? It is filled with Indians. No matter how remote the destination, you will always find Indians sightseeing the place, and there will always be an Indian restaurant there.

Indians crave spicy food and always are on the look out for Indian restaurant wherever they go. They must have Indian food. Have you been to an Indian Temple or any function, there is always a huge line at the food and crazy confusion to be the first one to get the food. They don’t want to miss out on the food. They have come this long and will not go without the food. They would rather miss the event they came for, but not the spicy Indian food at the event.

Having said that, Taco Bell is our savior. Since Indian restaurant’s are not everywhere and they are highly expensive, we go to Taco Bell as our cheap fast food option. But what makes a Taco Bell so attractive to Indians. First the food is spicy and has rice on their menu. We hate the concept of salads and meat loaf stuffed between a bun(burger). Salad is what we call gaddi in telugu(grass) or gaas poos in Hindi(grass with rhyming word appended to it to make it a good phrase). Meaning they are meant to be eaten by animals and not by humans. Burger are sometimes okay as long as they are spicy burgers. They are also highly dry. Burger King, McDonald's and Wendy's have all played with Spicy Burgers on their menu and discontinued them.

If you had looked at these fast food chains Ethnic statistics(if there was any), there would have been a huge spike in Indian customers at these places when these spicy burgers were on their burger menu and a even higher phenomenal drop when they were dropped from their menu. While I was in school at Morgantown, my friends and myself would visit Burger King quite often as long as they had Jalapeno Poppers. We would get Baja Chalupa and Spicy Burrito from Taco Bell and go to Burger King right across the street for the poppers and have our food there for about an hour. We were students, we were in no hurry to finish the food fast. We went to fast food not because we were short on time, but because we were short on dime (meaning cash).

I will get back to my story of why we like Taco Bell. The food being offered is spicy and has rice on half of their menu. But that is not good enough. It is only quarter of the whole pie. The remaining part of the pie is in the magical quotient that God has sent us to all Indians in North America called ‘Taco Bell Fire Sauce’. This Taco Bell Fire Sauce is next to Ambrosia. Taco Bell Fire Sauce is to humans as Ambrosia was for Angels. We do not need a mild sauce or a hot sauce. We need only the Fire Sauce and lots of it.

I also have designated numbers for each item on the Menu just like there are octane grades in Gasoline. Like a Chalupa is 4, Chicken Wrap supreme is 6, soft taco 3 etc. These numbers vary very slightly among Indians. The numbering is based on a highly complex algorithm. The number is defined as the number of Taco Bell Fire Sauce we need for these items on the menu. The other factor determining the number is the hotness factor of the food. If the food is hot it’s number is less and vice versa which is quite obvious. Also the dryness quotient is an important factor. A chalupa and a crunch wrap requires more. But a burrito would need less.

But every story has a villain. Authority, as in every place, has it’s way of poking it’s ugly hand in the people’s business. They like to dictate what we like and what we do not like. In this case the authority is the delivery person at a Taco Bell drive through. Whenever an Indian goes through a Taco Bell drive through, he does not fail to let the person know how many fire sauce he needs. Well he can only request, but he will not get what he asked. Like a pay check is deducted almost 30% of your hard earned income, the taco bell authority will cut the number of taco bell fire sauce you requested. The number you get depends on how cranky the authority is that day, or what he believes is required by you, or what he believes your tolerance quotient is based on his own intuition which will be biased, based on his own tolerance for this precious commodity. If the authority is Indian, the number might be close to what you asked. If the number is white or black or yellow then the number is definitely going to be low. You might only get 50% what you asked for. If the authority is brown(Hispanic or South American) then your number might be close to 80%.

But an Indian does not deter from fighting the authority back on his right to get the required number of fire sauce. The Indian will count the number given to him at the delivery window. If the number is less, he will ask for more though he is well aware of the impending condescending, frustrated expression on the authority’s face. He will count his number one more time. The number is still going to be less. Some will get satisfied with this. But there are some mavericks like me, who would park the car in the parking lot, go in and get some more until he is satisfied that the fire sauce would be sufficient. Some more hot headed guys would start a fight. This fight between the Indian and Authority, that I have noticed and participated since 9 years, still goes on. As a continuation of this fight for fire sauce I started a slogan which one day, I hope will spread like Fire. The slogan is

“An Indian needs his Fire”

An Indian needs his fire sauce. There is no second option. It is his birth right.

Mountaineers and Football

Mountaineers and Football are inseparable. Any guy with who calls himself a Mountaineer would follow Football ardently. I am big fan of Mountaineer Football. I try to watch every game that the Mountaineers play with a religious fervor. I hate seeing them lose, and am overboard when they win. You can say when it comes to Mountaineers Football, I can't hide my emotions much.

Mountaineer football can be a roller coaster ride with a lot of soap operaish off the field drama going on. Like last season, they would have been in once a lifetime Championship game, had they not lost to the lowly miserable bunch called Pittsburgh. They lost their championship hope by the loss to them where they could not make a single touchdown. All they could muster were some field goals.

Then comes the Fiesta Bowl game where they blow the Sooners 48-28 with such ease that made us all so proud. In all this is the Head Coach Rich Rodriguez drama who chickened and bailed out at the end of the regular season to Michigan. He lost his first game this year with Michigan which I think he well deserved - that selfish brat of a kid called Head Coach Rich Rodriguez.

This year they started with a high note winning easily against Villanova. Then came the true test with ECU which they lost with no signs of a team that won against the mighty Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl. I know ECU was tough team but not having to muster a touch down is hard to fathom. All they could get was a single field goal. So much for talk of a potential Championship contender and a possible Heisman for Pat White. Any hope of either of them are gone when they lose the next game to Colorado 17-14 in a closely contested game. A closely contested game is not good enough.

A good team comes out of closely contested games. It shows some character for a team to come out of holes. This team had the Heisman Candidate Pat White returning with Noel Divine as his running mate. He also has the senior line backers returning this year. The only change is the coaching staff. But this was the same coaching staff that won the Fiesta Bowl.

Anyways that my Mountaineers for you. One week they are up and the very next week they are down. This is what makes them lose the credibility points like that in the Teams in SEC. The important thing though for the Mountaineers is to have schedules with tough teams including those in the SEC. This year they have some good games lined up and the most important is against the Auburn of the SEC. They should consistently have games against the tough teams and eventually the Team will get better. They should stop having their schedule filled with teams like Marshall just for the sake of winning. Sure you can a 11-1 or 10-2 at the end of your normal schedule but if 6-7 of those wins come against teams like Marshall what good is that.

I am glad that this years schedule is tougher than last years. And as always lets cheer our team - Lets Go 'Eers.

Why Bother To Forward?

I hate forwards. Forwards are emails sent to you by your friends or colleagues about something supposedly for interest to you. 99% percent of these forwards are junks/myths/urban legends twisted. These forwards talk about the character of the person forwarding them. This ofcourse is my classifaction and none of this is personal. It is just a character assessment based on the forwards and many fall under more than one category.

Religious coward: These forward email about some divine myth/ story about something good or bad had happened and they prayed to this/that god and things have changed permanently for them. So they start this chain and curse upon on those who dont spread the chain. They believe in the curse (God being the supreme being does not curse you on such silly matters as not forwarding a story about him to someone else) and will forward to one who believes that stuff and those that dont believe in that stuff.

E-Capitalists: Remember that email chain about microsoft doing a secret survey and if you forward the email that he sent you, you will be millionaire in no time. These guys believe in instant gratification by doing a simple task of causing inconvenience by forwarding the junk to others and hoping to get rich by their benign deed.

Scare Crows: Recently I had a email forwarded from a colleague anout being careful when picking vegetables from an indian grocery store. Apparently there was a woman who died from a unseen snake hiding in the vegetables and was found dead on returning to the car with froth coming out of her mouth. Pretty graphic and bollywood like. These are fear mongerers.

Political Pundits: These guys send articles or email chains about politicians that are on the other side of their political fence. Anything negative that they can find, even if that is a myth, is an opportunity not to be lost.

Well Wishers: I had a friend who was fine until one day he began to send emails that contained images with content of philosophy, living life to the fullest and things like that. Guess why that happened. He got married and he began to see roses in everything. His wife subscribes to some website that sends her this kind of email. She forwards it to him. And he in turn sends those greetings to everyone he knows. I know you care for us, but dude keep your wife's greetings with you.

Nature Admirers: These are those that send anything wonderful they see about nature. Like the amazing pictures of the Seven Wonders of the World or the recent Olympics opening ceremony in China. These are kind of email forwards that you would have seen a long time ago, and this guy stumbled upon them only recently and cannot wait until he shares his discovery to the world.

Technology Warlords: These guys are those that are on one side of the technology rivalry like that between Apple and Microsoft. They send anything negative about the technology they hate and anything remotely positive about the technology they like. They also send emails about some cool work places, like Google office having a nice Play Pen and bed to sleep if you want. They send this only if the firm deals with technology they like or is also to rival to the technology they hate.

Bummerman Take 2

A couple days after I wrote about this social Bummerman, I found that he was no longer under the bridge that I saw him until then. I guess the Clean Philadelphia program by Mr.Nutter is the mysterious hand behind this guy missing. I spoke to my colleagues a week later about him and they said they saw him a couple blocks south of our building. I never saw him myself.

I met him near the Von Colln Field close to the Art Museum area . I spoke to him bit hesitantly at first. It was not like I speak to homeless people daily. In fact it was the first time that had I made an initiative to speak to a member of this socially outcast members of our society.

He is from Baltimore and was also in minor league once. He had coached kids in the little league for a few years. The kids in the baseball park come to him for tips on their game. He also attended medical school for 3 years and dropped out as he did not like it. He taught at a school for a while.

I found that he is between jobs and has friends who drop on him once in a while. It looks like he did a lot of things before settling into his current status. There might be a lot other things that one does not and cannot disclose to a stranger on the first conversation. But I had no doubt in my mind while accepting his story. My friend called me naive when I told him that he was not on drugs. I do not mind being naive as against judging a person. I have done that mistake once but not anymore.

Now that I spoke to him, I have lot more questions. Is this his choice, is he happy, how about his heathcare, how about his food. He did answer to some of my questions, but it strikes a little difficult to be living as such voluntarily, especially for a guy who is educated and smart. One such question was where does he sleep now, as his home has been cleaned up by the city. He keeps walking around the city in the night and sleeps during the day because the city officials would not let them sleep in the night on the benches.

I recently read a book called Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh. That book has created an entry into the field of sociology in my mind. It's a coincidence that I met Mr.Bummerman and my interest to understand the sociological incentives have when people like Bummerman decide to stay in their current circumstances. The sad part is that I do not remember his name. I promise this to myself that the next time, I talk to him, I will know his name and will no longer address him as Bummerman.

Long Way From Home

'Long way from Home, Boy', I thought to myself several times the last couple of years. It has been 10 years since I left home and 9 years in USA. I have been to different places like a wandering Samurai - Baroda, Morgantown, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Philadelphia. But nothing has come close to home, never felt the same like h0me. Morgantown and then Philly come close but they are as close as horizon. There are several things I like about living in Philly, my lifestyle has improved since college and am in good place I think.

But there are certain things that I miss. I miss the cold ocean breeze and the hot summer days. I miss the convenience store whose owner is an obnoxious snob but lets stuff out on credit. I miss the gang of guys making passes at cute girls in the street corner. I miss the teeth bites while trying to mediate a silly dispute between two young girls. I miss being pulled out of line for a first day first show after waiting in line for 3 hours and buying the tickets in black for a farce in the name of movie called 'Kondapalli Raja'.

I miss waking up at 5:00 AM to be at the tuition center for IIT. Never been any close to getting into IIT. I miss being the scared kid on the first day at school(AUCE college). I miss the road side junk food at the beach. I miss the cricket at my friends backyard with shady rules like one bounce catch.

I miss the soothing shade under the coconut tree in front of my home. The coconut trees are no longer there, but their imagery is still intact. I miss the sweet smell of jasmines from the 8 ft long Jasmine plant in my backyard planted by Mom. They must have grown longer. I miss the sweet taste of guava from my backyard.

I miss the tender touch of my 12 lb and 1 year old niece who is 11 years now. I miss not seeing the reaction on my nephew's face when he puts on the Spiderman costume I sent him. Most of all I miss my family. I miss not being for them when they need me. I say to myself several times a year 'You are long way from Home, Boy'.

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Above is an expanded version of my prompt for 'You are long way from Home, Boy' at my writer's workshop.

Commodities in Coin

I have read this story a long time ago about the smuggling of coins made with silver in India to Bangladesh. It was fascinating to me because the story told me that the metal that these coins were made is worth more than the face value of these coins.

So why do I revisit this story after decade and half? I have a friend who is 76 and never fails to pick up a penny if he sees one on the street. He told me how he had collected coins like that and recieved $500 from the bank for the coins he picked off of the street. He questions 'How can a country not respect a value of its pennys? It is worth something'. It got me thinking why people do not value penny and what had happened the coins in India. They were smuggled and allowed to be smuggled because the people felt there have value to them as they 5, 10 and 25 paise.

I mentioned about the story of the low end coins from India that were once smuggled to Bangladesh. He was amazed to hear it and surprising there was show on TV called '60 minutes' which ran story recently after our conversation.

I wanted to see if I can find the story online somewhere that I read in a Telugu daily some 15 years ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6766563.stm
http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/004528.html

Reaping flowers and Vegetables

A few weeks ago, my wife had this crazy idea that she wanted a garden just like her home in India. I am like there goes another case of 'Just like in India'. But not the one to say no, I agreed. The experience that followed was an eye opener.(Please read eye as wallet.)

So we went to Home Depot and began looking for flowers and pots to hold them. I almost fainted at the price of each flower plant and the pots. I saw this bunch of Mums for $5. The only place I am going to spend my five dollars are at Subway where any foot long sub is now only $5. I said that to her and she replied we can have our dinner today at Subway. It was Saturday and we are vegetarians on Saturday. I was in no mood for Veggie Delight. I understood well that I should listen to what she wants and avoid the trouble of having to do something that I don't want.

So she picked some mums, gazanias, violets and other flower plants that I have no idea what they are. Not to be left out, I said what about some vegetables. So were added kung pao peppers, violet bell peppers and vine tomatoes. I was like these should be enough let’s check out.

She says no no no no no. I don't want my flowers in these tiny containers. We need some nice flower pots and also some big trays for your vegetables she said. OK let’s go I say hurrying her to the pots section. We bought about 5 porcelain pots for some indoor decorative plants we already had, 4 plastic big pots for the flowers and three 18 inch trays one for the vegetables and two for flowers. Did you know that the trays in white are more expensive than the trays colored brown? Damn you racist color biased Home Depot shouted my inner self.

So I say again let’s check out. She says no no no no no. We need potting soil. The soil that we have with pots is not enough. The plants will die in a day on transplanting she says. She had a point. But who on earth in India buys mud and soil. Wasn't the whole point to have a life style like in India? She says our family always bought it. I thought my family was smart not to buy mud. We have enough soil in our backyard for plants. But I was hungry and did not want to start a losing fight. I also thought how much can a soil cost. All they have to do is package free soil in a plastic bag. A dollar at most, I guess. Was I WRRROOONNNNGGGG.

There are hundreds of soil types - garden soil, potting soil, 3 month, 4 month, everlasting, 1cf, 2cf, 5cf etc. And none of them was close to a dollar I estimated earlier. I picked two 1cf bags that weighed about 15 lbs each and put them on the cart. I said is there anything else. Nope we can go now unless you want more flowers she says. My response was No thank you we can go now. I fainted again as the register was ringing into 3 digits. Home Depot was hearing the sweet sound of cha ching while I was paying for mud.

By the time we reached home it was 3PM. We had our lunch on our way home. It took almost 3 more hours to transplant all the plants in the pots and trays. We also shouted and scolded each other as to why each of us was doing wrong. After 2 hours, I guess she was tired of planting the virtual garden or was tired of my incessant knowledge transfer of gardening skills and how to do them right. She left me on the balcony and never came back leaving me to finish my vegetables. I planted them all and went to be bed tired that night.

The next day I was talking to my friend and told him about my gardening expedition. He mocks me 'What? Are you going to reap flowers?’ I don't know but I hope to see some flowers in my wife's hand and atleast a pepper in my food for 120 bucks.

I did see some flowers and the peppers coming out today after about a month. I also saw some flower plants die and the peppers infested with achids. That's my next episode to get rid of those tiny slimy achids. I never thought I will be a farmer which was my ancestral occupation. I guess I have to now, if I am to see something out of investment.

Pure Vegetarian?

Last week my wife received a phone call from a friend whom she invited to visit us for dinner. My wife’s friend gave a courtesy call to confirm that her husband and herself will not be coming on Saturday but can make it on Sunday. My wife makes her favorite chicken curry and biryani on Sunday which is a customary habit brought over from her family. So she asked casually if they eat chicken. That was it. I could hear a barrage of hysteric cry on the phone from the other side. The cry was so loud that I could overhear her from a tiny cell phone that my wife was talking through while we were driving through a noisy intersection.

I know this post of mine will catch the nerves of some, but it does catch my nerve whenever I hear them say this - 'I am a 100% pure vegetarian' and they ramble about hysterically as to what should not be in their food as if the whole world out there is conspiring to get them to eat meat. I mean what does the phrase ‘100% pure vegetarian’ mean anyway.

If the above Para has some of you vegetarians fuming, sorry this is not meant to hurt every vegetarian out there. But please read through for what I am saying. I understand and respect your way of life. You want to be vegetarian whatever your reason might be. Good for you.

There seems to this superior feeling that they belong to higher strata in society fizzled by the Hindu theory of quad structured society and the top of it being the vegetarian sect. This sense of standing on a higher pedestal makes them look down upon us meat eating non-vegetarians that are bent on bringing them down to our level by contaminating their food with Non-Veg. Sorry to put a brake on your fast moving fancy dreams but there is no such conspiracy. You can have you veggies and leave our meat alone.

But what exactly does 100% pure vegetarian mean. Isn't 100% mean absolute pure that you have to qualify the 100% pure. Somebody is poor with maths. So is it % based on time or ingredients. This is what I mean. I eat veggies 5 days a week. Does that make me 71% pure? Or doesn't that qualify. If someone eats diary products like milk and cheese vegans don’t consider them vegetarians. So those of you who consume diary products are 82% pure vegetarians and vegans are 100%.

If you put the factoring of %s aside, socializing with some of these becomes a nightmare. I had a friend that I used to go out with. He had consumed chicken and beef before for a long time, but coming from a family of vegetarians, his sister took an oath to never to eat meat when he came to USA. Doesn't it seem like Manoj Kumar's movie and all so touching? Yes the story is touching but not socializing with him. So every time I went to have lunch/dinner to a restaurant, it was the same story. He would begin the order with 'I am a 100% pure vegetarian. I don't eat chicken, no beef, no pork, no fish, and no eggs'. He would go on and on enumerating all the animals, with his fingers out and counting them that would possibly be eaten by the lowly meat eating people. God! The guy taking an order would look at me and I would try hard to not meet my eyes with him and sometimes hide under the table to avoid embarrassment. It is even more hilarious if the restaurant was Chinese. After all his rambling there would be egg in his fried rice and pork in his spring roll.

For those of you who do not what kind of vegetarian you are a quick Google on types of vegetarian will provide the following classification and some say you can say vegetarian only if you are vegan.
Pescatarian
Flexitarian/Semi-vegetarian
Lacto-ovo- vegetarian
Lacto-vegetarian
Ovo-vegetarian
VeganRaw
Vegan
Macrobiotic
Fruitarian

So next time please specify what kind of vegetarian you are or just say you are a vegetarian. We all know what you mean. You do not need to qualify 100% and pure.

But the vegetarians have their own problems that I am fully aware of. I am a forced vegetarian for 2 days a week. Dont ask me why? It will be one of those movie stories albiet a cliched chick movie at that. Married men have to make a lot of sacrificies to keep the lady happy. The options to vegetarians dining out is very limited. The standard is Taco Bell with the order being 'Chalupa replace meat with beans por favor'. At BK it is the Veggie burger and at subway the Veggie delight. You need 2 footlongs of those Veggie delights from Subway to satisfy your hunger. There is also Qdoba that have veggie burritos and my favorite is Mexican Gumbo. If you have tried it, you should. It is like Indian sambar rice, only it is Mexican and very tasty. The list seems to be long enough but if you think about it for a minute not every place you live or work has all the 4 places I mentioned above. In most cases you have at most one of them and you are stuck with eating the same thing over and over again.

Friendly Neighbourhood Bummerman

I have been thinking of writing about this man that I see several times week ever since I joined my current client. I park my car about 4 blocks from the building that I work now. About a block north of my work building is a Bridge and underneath the bridge, which is part of a huge parking lot, is the home of this middle aged man I had mentioned earlier.

Imagine this - The story is that of a comic strip super hero. The season is peak winter where it is snowing about 2 to 3 days a week for about 6 inches. Read the following with a baritone of a western movie opening - When the weather is cold, the roads are slippery, all hope of a smooth walk wades and good grip on a shoe can't help, here comes the friendly neighborhood bummerman who will clean the pavement for you and sprinkle salt so to make your commute to work easy.

As you might have guessed I stole the phrase from Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman. I like Spiderman who doesn’t?

This guy is a bum who had made his home under the bridge for quite sometime now. But he is no ordinary Bum. If you have been to Philadelphia or New York you cannot escape the sight of these people - the Bums. The only emotion on seeing these guys is fear and suspicion. The other thing is the stench which makes you run from them fast and a mile far. But they are present everywhere and you wish you had no nose as you keep encountering them every other block or two. After a while you get used to their presence as they become familiar faces. This man is one such familiar face.

But this guy other than his way of living and style of dressing (if I can call it a style) is a regular guy. He is very sociable and social conscious. He keeps the half block under the bridge really clean and well maintained. He cleans away the snow in winter and sprinkles salt. In fact he does the job that the Philadelphia City must be doing and he does it regularly and better than them. As for being sociable, I have seen him talk to different commuters who park their car in the parking lot under the bridge and are on their way to work or back from work. He seems to have a good following among the fairer sex especially.

But this is only a part of the story. The other part is what I can see of his belongings on the other side of the cage partition of the parking lot. He has a lot of books and they are no ordinary books. Most of them are undergraduate school books ranging from sciences, mathematics to finance and marketing. He also has a pile of new National Geographic as if he has a subscription delivered to his door.

No he does not have the regular free news paper metro that other Bums use to make it their beds. In fact I saw no traces of news paper. He has a pile of clothes and bedding on one side. I once saw a huge set of dumbbells as well and other hardware set like nuts, bolts, screws etc. I have no idea where he gets them and where they go after a week or so. He always refurnishes his home with new decor.

I have seen him read books most of the time when he is not chatting with people or when he is not cleaning the pavement and his home. I saw him read books related to finance and marketing most of the time. I have also seems some books placed a little far away from him home on the pavement as if to suggest the books could be taken away by anyone interested. Most of them get washed away by rain or gets trashed. Who wants used books and one read by a Bum anyway?

I couldn't help notice the title of this book on his pile this morning - 'How to save money, Smart'. I smiled a bit at the irony of his life and book he was reading. I thought it is a little bit too late for him to be smart with money now. If he was smart with Money during his early days he wouldn't have been in this situation, I judged because he was normal by all other means.

But as I was discussing this guy with my other colleagues and they had noticed him too. His mention lead to huge discussion about the merits of his lifestyle. He does not have to pay rent nor taxes. He does not need car to commute as he begs for stuff right there at the parking lot. His commute to work is zero minutes. He does not catch the eye of the officials by being friendly to the people and cleaning up the pavement regularly. It is less likely that one reports a Bum living under a bridge when he helps them from getting hurt. No burden of family and he has the house for all himself.

In fact one of my colleagues from NJ mentioned about how he noticed a bum who carried a monthly pass to New York City daily. He would be in bum’s attire in the morning and in the evening he would have a regular wear like anybody else. The bum’s attire was his work wear and being a bum in New York was his profession. He must have been making quite well to have monthly pass to NY City from South Jersey.

I guess our Philadelphia friendly neighborhood bummerman was really reading an appropriate book and living the life of the book title.

Why I went natural?

This is the story of how I turned from using regular sugar to natural sugar aka honey. Here is how it went.

Once upon a time there lived a gentleman who was happy having his occasional coffee with regular sugar. He was healthy and had BWI of 21 so to say he did not need artificial sugars nor did he like them. In fact he hated the taste they had and also the fact that they had side effects.

His lifestyle changed a bit after he married and moved to Scranton. He had to travel once a week to Philadelphia which was about 2:45 hrs one way. So to reach his office in Philadelphia by 9:00 AM he would start at around 6:00AM and in order to do that he had to wake up at 5:00AM. So that is quite early for this lazy, wake up at 8:00AM, casual person. His life turned upside down with this but he found a partner in caffeine.

Being an avaricious reader, he found that too much caffeine is bad and found that Tea is a better alternative as it has lower Caffeine and has antioxidants that are good for his allergies. So he began to drink Tea instead of coffee. But this habit turned out not so good to his young bride who loved her sleep a lot more than he does.

He pleads to his wife to make his Tea on the day of his journey. She abides to his request despite her love for sleep. But the story does not end there. If you remember the story is about how he went natural. Well here is what happened next.

The first day she made Tea she used Sweet N Low. Being a nit picker he instantly recognized the taste of non cane artificial sugar. Not only did the sugar taste differently, but he could taste nothing but sugar. It was as if he was drinking High Fructose Corn Syrup. What happened was she used about 5 packs of Sweet N Low in an
8oz Tea.

He got rid of all the Sweet N Low that got into his home accidentally. This made him feel that all will be fine despite his hardships now that he will have his good caffeine friend for company. Not so fast said his wife non-verbally.

The next time around he found himself drinking an exotic tea that could be found nowhere on earth. He had tasted all kinds of tea including black tea with no sugar. But he was drinking a Double Salted Tea this time. In her sleepish nonchalance she had used two spoons of salt from the container next to the sugar. If she was awake, she would have noticed the blue/black cover with a girl in yellow frock carrying an umbrella. She did notice nothing of that sort. All she saw was salt was white and she knew sugar was white.

Now the worried king (in his dreamland) wondered how he can fix this. He was not willing to make the tea himself. He had lots of other things to take care of that morning the important of which is getting up at 5:00AM which he would snooze to wake up at 5:30AM from when he would be like a chicken with it's head cut out. Nor does he have the extra 10 Min's to take a break at the service plaza for coffee.

So he decided that only way is to find something that was not sugar but sweet. He was watching TV one evening while thinking for a solution. He was watching Seinfeld his all-time favorite show and during break they had a clip of an interview with Jerry Seinfeld the writer/producer of the show. He was talking about his break since the show became syndicated and was promoting his new movie where he provides a voice over to the prime character. The name of the move - Bee Movie.

All those who say TV is an idiot box are nuts he thought. A solution to his problem stung like a Bee. He put on his shoe, took his jacket and went out to his favorite store the mighty Wal-Mart. He went to the cereal aisle and bought himself an 8lb Honey bottle.

He called his dear life mate and said sweetly....
HONEY! use this HONEY!!!!

They lived naturally ever after.

Dont Ask Wont Tell

Here are some of the questions that I am frequently asked that I am amused by, peeved at and most often than not, I do not have answers to. These are typical questions asked mostly by people who do not know me well but do ask me. I categorize them into 2 categories.
First Category: By Indians (@Work, general acquaintance outside, in India during vacation etc)
1. How long are you in US?
They ask this to assess where I stand monetarily and immigration status.
2. Do you have a GC? If not what stage is it in?
If I say Yes I would be lying as I don’t have one. If I say NO, the person asking is already comparing me with people (s)he know. My long lost cousin XYZ got his GC in 3 years and he was not even half as smart as me. This guy must be worse than him or he must have done something to tick off the INS.
3. It has been 8 years and you still don't have a GC? (Put a shocked expression in the asking persons face here).
Yes I do not have a GC even after 8+ years in US.
4. If you don't mind may I know you Salary/Pay?
Yes, you can know. I am getting paid well enough to survive.
5. Is it true that Indians are treated like second grade citizens?
You don't need to answer this. Even before you can answer this, the person asking has an answer and that it Yes, they are treated second grade.
6. Is it true that Indians are nothing but cheap labor in US?
Don't even bother to answer again. Answering yes will only make you a cheap labor in a distant US who left his home country and become a US supporting traitor. Answering no will only strengthen the asking person’s convention that I am lying and Indians are indeed cheap labor in US. You lose anyway and you cannot change the opinion.
7. Did you think about starting a company? A person that I know who knows somebody owns a company. Why don't you?
The above question irritates me to the core. I am not interested in owning a company. I am happy working for somebody else where I have to go at 8 and come home by 6:00PM, relax, watch a game and sleep. Is that a wrong thing? Should I own a company to be considered successful?
8. Why did you not do your MBA? Do you have plans to do your MBA?
This is one more question that every Indian has asked me. Well I do not want to do MBA. In fact I don't even know if I want to go into Management for now. If I answer this, I would be considered not a Management material. If I say Yes, I want to but was not able as I had no time then I am considered not an MBA material. Either way the Q person has made an assumption on me that I not an M Material.

Now onto the other side of the Globe. Questions asked by Americans. There are again questions asked by people who do not know me well or have not attempted to know anything about India or just do not care but do ask because I happened to be there.
1. Do they celebrate Christmas in India? Do Indians celebrate Christmas?
No they do not is my answer unless the person is a Christian. Christmas is not a National event. It is a religious festival celebrated by Christians. Just because 90% of Americans are Christians and most celebrate it; it does make it a National event. I am a Hindu and hence do not celebrate Christmas. It's like asking an American in India 'Do they celebrate Diwali in America?' Do they? I hate holiday season when this question is bombarded repeatedly.
2. Are there still Elephants in Indian Streets?
Yes believe it or not this question was asked and no he was not joking. My answer was 'Yes, they still do. In fact we used to own one that we used to drop me at school and pick me up back'. Yes I did answer that way. A stupid answer to a stupid question.
3. Are there still snakes and snake charmers in India?
Yes, there are. But India is developed now. So all of us carry anti-venom in our pockets just in case we got bit by a stray cobra.
4. What is your stand on the American war on Iraq?
If I say I do not support, I am considered an anti American leech sucking the American economy.
If I say I do support, I am considered a bigot who is trying to suck up to an American.
5. Who do you support Republican or Democrat?
If I answer Democrat, I am branded an Anti Capitalistic Socialist.
If I answer Republican, I am branded a Conservative hypocrite who forgot secularism.
6. Who would you see as a Democratic candidate Obama or Clinton?
If I say Obama, I am an elitist male chauvinist.
If I say Clinton, I am a conservative racist.
7. Do you want to stay back in this country or go back?
At first I thought, the person asking the question wanted to hear that I should go back. I was more than happy to answer Yes as that was my intention. But to my surprise I was shocked to hear the response from the first person that asked me this question and every other person that asked me the same question. Whenever I said Yes, they were shocked and said 'Why? You don't like this country? Isn't US more developed than India. Aren't the living conditions way better off that in India?'. I was not prepared to answer such barrage of questions and now I got used to their shocked expressions and questions.
When I say yes I want to stay back, I know what they are thinking as well. They make me the cause of Americans losing jobs as I am stole one of their jobs permanently. This I can tell from their demeanor.
8. You do have a HDTV and/or XBOX.
If I say Yes to either of them, I am a show off.
If I say No I am a pauper who should be shun.


This is general, if I am asked by a stranger at an Indian Grocery Store or Wal-Mart as to what I do, I know what to do? I run away from him/her. That's a Quixtar/Amway candidate calling you and you are better off at least 10 miles from them.

57 Beechurst No More

I try to visit Morgantown whenever I can or at least once a year. Last year I was in Morgantown for a Football Game when my parents were visiting us and before that casually to meet friends. The latter time I took a couple of our (actually my wife's undergraduate friend and her cousin) friends, my brother and my wife to Morgantown. We had fun time and my friends liked it Morgantown a lot. Why would anybody not like the second heaven on Earth? The first of course being Vizag.

Our friend liked it so much that when her parents were around this time, she wanted to show Morgantown to them and asked us if we could accompany them so I can show them the best places in and around Morgantown. I was absolutely happy to do so and quickly convinced my wife to go along with me as it was her friend that we were meeting.

I took them to the regular places - Cooper's rock (The Park was actually closed for the season and won’t open until a month or so), Valley Falls, Campus etc. I tried to have lunch at my favorite place in Morgantown Black Bear which is a fusion Mexican restaurant. But no one was willing to experiment and preferred to try my other suggestion Asia Garden which was also closed for the time by the time we went there. So we settled for QDoba as all the other good places were not of liking to my other fellas.

So while having my lunch, it began to sink in the reality of what I saw on my little detour on the way to Black Bear. I had four addresses during my period in Morgantown and none holds better memories than my last home at 57 Beechurst Ave. I had 5 wonderful roommates who were in very similar situation as I was and came to Morgantown about the same time I did. So the chemistry was great and we had a blast.

I wanted to park behind the house and take a minute or two recollecting the good old days. So I drove in to the parking lot next to the church that was to North of the building. I drove behind the church and was expecting to see my old home behind it. To my shock there was nothing but asphalt laden parking lots with perfect lines for the car. It would appear as if the house never existed if you have not been there.

I felt a void in my memories. The old cricket games we had in my memory appeared to no long have the house in the backyard. I was cooking in the open parking lot now every Wednesday. We were all watching a horror movie 50 ft in the air every Friday night.

I felt a huge emptiness .. 57 Beechurst is now more. I felt bad that I should have taken a picture of it before I left. All that I have left is memories of good old days.

Helping Hand on the Road

These are some pessimistic days. You are afraid to talk to strangers or to provide help to a strange. There are always news about shootings by strangers barging into a store or a school. The parents are always telling their kids never talk to or trust a stranger. But there are few people out there that are willing to provide a helping hand in times of need.

Why I am so preachy about helping hands today? Well today I was on the receiving end of help from a stranger in the city of Brotherly Love. My current work situation takes me to Philadelphia once a week for working at my clients site. To avoid the heavy commuter traffic, I start around noon on my way back to Scranton.

So today, I was going to my car from work. I was near my car and I see a car near the parking region by the roadside. As I was crossing the car, the lady in the car brings down her window and asks me if it was safe to park there to go to the Art Museum. There was a Frida Kahlo art gallery display going on at the Museum. I assumed that she was asking if it was OK to park there without getting a parking ticket. Having lived close by for 2 years, I knew the place well. I answered it was OK to park there and that the Museum was less than 10 mins walk from there on such a sunny hot beautiful day. So she parks the car and move along to my cars that was only few feet and 3 car spaces away.

On reaching my car, I tried unlocking with my keyless and there was this most dreaded silence from my care. There was no sound of the unlocking and I knew I had repeated my mistake. I done this 3 times before and this was 4th but first on my Toyota. Now I am thinking, I could call my Insurance and wait for about 2 hours. I could call my colleagues and get laughed at for the next 2 weeks. Neither did look very encouraging as I was in a mood to get home ASAP after a tough week at work.

So, I decided to take my chances on talking to the lady as I had a Jump Start cables with my Emergency Kit in my car. I approached her car from behind which was a mistake. People always are always apprehensive when they see strangers approaching from behind. On seeing me she lowered her windows and then I said 'Are you on a rush to go somewhere'. Having said that I thought I could have used a better opening line. She had this confused frown in her face and replied 'No, why'. She probably was thinking I was hitting on her. I explained to her the story, said that I needed a Jump Start, that I have the cables and that it would not take long. Little did I know that the cables were faulty and it would longer than anticipated.

Luckily there was a half car space available in front of my car and she came over on that side. I set up the cables and asked to start. I tried my car but it would not start. I came out and readjusted my car and tried again. It did not help. I came out and said it is not working. She was very patient and said give it a few minutes. I struck a conversation and found that her name was Andrea from New Jersey and she was waiting for her friend to join her. While I was waiting to start my car again, there comes a man who could be in his 50s. He apparently lives in the house directly behind my car on the street and said that he noticed my lights were on the previous night. I figured that by now.

He then said, the wires might be little loose and he fiddled with the plugs and asked me try again. No use. He said that there seems to be not enough current to provide the spark. He says the it might need thicker cables and he went to fetch his own personal cables from his car that was parked a block away. I was surprised by his helpful nature. Philadelphia never seemed better than it was today.

He brings back the cable and set them up himself. I tried them and Voila, the car starts. He tells me not to stop the car for sometime or go to a Gas Station to have my battery recharged. He asked when I was coming back. Next week, I say. On hearing it he handed over the Jump Start cable and said I can drop it off at his door steps when I come back next week. I think, he felt I might need them again. I thanked Him and said I sure will. I think he mentioned his name to be David.

I think the spring is finally here. The cold days of sinisterness are over. I feel good. I have hope in mankind. Before I sound like Barack Obama I will end the story here. I think it was Karma or something. Why do I say Karma...it is a story for another day of my life in good old Morgantown.

Women, Where Art Thou?

I was talking to a friend of mine recently and he mentioned that he postponed his visit to India. The reason being he want to go when someone in his family gets married so he can have a fun time. Nothing wrong with that but the fact that all the eligible people being guys. Apparently it has become difficult to find suitable girls for these guys. It looks like he has to wait a long time.

Gone are the days when a guy has to say yes and then there would be a lot of calls from girl's families to arrange a match. Not any more. Everyone I speak of late, know more and more guys who are in the match making queue with a long wait ahead of them.

I personally know atleast 4 guys who are raring to go and get married. Alas! the girl is not to be found. The same story is repeated from my wife's side family as well. Their's is a huge family and astonishingly they do not have a single suitable girl. But guys there are a gazillion galore.

Where must have the girls gone? If you look at statistics, there are 927 ladies for every 1000 guys and that explains it (The serious consequences are a different discussion). The stat is alarmingly low in infants where it is 880 for 1000. The stats are even more glaring when compared them with other countries where women are 1045 for every 1000 men which is understandable as women are known to live longer.

So It looks that 7 in 100 guys have to remain unmarried unless it becomes acceptable socially and legally for a girl to have multiple spouses. Divine intervention is needed to change this imbalance. And sure enough God has heard my pray. My friends who had kids recently were all girls. Long live the girl child.

For a more serious perpective please view the links below
Sex ratio: the hidden horrors
An Overview India's Population
The Hindu : Men without women

Hey Kiddo

I recently visited my Dentist for a dental clean. I wish I did not make that visit. The doctor visits me and says 'Hey Kiddo Sit down here'. At first, I thought I did not hear well. She must have said something in her accent that I could not understand or did not know.

People have said to me that I look younger than I am. I have frequently been asked what school am I going to or Do I go to school. I would be flattered sometimes and disgusted sometimes depending on who asks it and how, but mostly it was the former. Who does not want to feel young? Not me for one.

All that self flattery vanished when my dentist called me again 'Turn your head this side KIDDO'. This time I could not have missed it. At first I thought she was playing. But her demeanor did not suggest so from what I can say as good a judge of demeanor I am. I have always wanted to say something funny with my doctor like Nag says to the Doctor on his hospital bed 'Will you marry me' in the movie ‘Geethanjali’. That movie and that dialogue have left a lasting impression on me when in teens. I definitely cannot say that now. She thinks I am a kid. Has she gone blind or something? Did she not notice my receding hairline? (On any other circumstance I would highly prefer anyone not noticing it).

I came out of her office in pain both mentally and physically. Physically because of the numbness from injecting the anesthesia in my cheeks that they did with 4 injections. And mentally because the world thinks that I am a kid. I began thinking nobody takes me seriously at home or at work. I believe that is why no suggestions of mine were considered in our team meetings despite their genuine greatness.

Had I looked older, I am lead to believe, everything else would fall in place. Oh my GOD! What am I to do, March Madness and NBA playoff are here and I need to concentrate on the scores. The leaking dish washer, that my wife asks me to look at, can wait and so can the smelling trash can. I digress into other domestic stuff. So I revert back to the original rant.

I wish to be in my Dad's shoes. He was on the other side of the window that I am in now for as long as I think of. He had premature hair graying. He was called uncle by people elder to him. He has finally reached a stage where he looks his age.
But his younger years were filled with such instances daily where people mistook him for 20-30 years older than he really is. He would always take it laughingly and would say what does it matter, everybody has to become old once, I only look old now and will be old soon enough. It was fine by him, but not to me. I even took up his cause against a 40 year old Marwadi airhead who called my 38 year old Dad 'Dadaji'.

After all that, when the world thinks I am young (in fact a kid), I wish I was in his shoes. So that night, I told my wife the story as to what happened. She said 'Don't worry. How does it matter what the world thinks. You cannot stop them. All that matters is what you perceive of yourself' and I began to feel better. I makes sense right. But wait a minute, did she say that because that she considers me a am kid too. NOOOOOOOOOO...

Dubious Driving Distinction

I drive a lot. For work, for pleasure and therby contributing my 2 cents to green house gases. Of course that was pun intended. I carry a lot of maps in my car, infact I am kind of obsessed with maps to being on the brink of OCD. I rather not have a GPS on my car, if I do I keep fiddling with it until a get shout from co passenger who is scared hell out of their life at my erratic driving and obsession to find different and shorter route to reach the destination, rather than on the road ahead of me.

This obsession with maps has origins in Morgantown, where I began my first driving on interstates. We (my friends and I) would go to Pittsburgh several times and I would get lost most of the times either to the airport or to the temple or to both. This one time I made my friend miss her flight who was on her way to her first job interview. And this was in 2001 when the country was in middle of a huge recession and job interviews were very though to find. There begins my story.

On my first long distance drive, from NJ back to Morgantown, I almost killed everyone. Every time I have a truck pass me, I would take up the shoulder. Damn the nasty sound that the shoulder edge makes waking up all the other sleeping passengers. On the last segment of the trip I exchanged the wheel with another guy who got himself a traffic violation ticket in Morgantown.

On my next long distance drive, Srikanth and I decided to take an alternative route to Detroit. A more scenic and country route would reduce the distance and make our drive more enjoyable. Or so Srikanth convinced me. This long drive gave me distinction of being the only person on Earth to recieve 2 speeding violations in a span of less than an hour. What was I thinking? I was thinking like in India if you show your violation for the day there will be no more violations. BOY was I wrong. The rest of the drive, Srikanth took over. Was he glad to take over the wheel!! On our way back he took us to ghetto Detroit downtown region without his headlights on and soon we were followed by cops. That is a different story.

After my move from Morgantown to Pittsburgh, it was time for my friend/colleagues to bear the brunt of my driving. We would car pool to movies or evening get togethers. I would occasionally violate red lights. To their shock, I was nonchalant and would float a famous quote of mine. "Jaha Vamsi Alla jata hai, Right of way usi ka hota hai". That quote was quite popular among us then. I proved myself right by being lucky enough to get no tickets or being in an accident. Phew!!!

The next two years after my move from Pittsburgh to Dallas, I drove occasionally, mostly rental cars they were. Moving to Philadelphia required no long commute as I was about a mile away from work and lived in downtown. I have mellowed down since then. Driving in philadelphia can mellow even the insanest of drivers. You have only two options while driving in Philadelphia, drive carefully and live or Die. It's like Sean P. Diddy slogan for 2004 elections - "Vote or Die" as if there is no third option like not vote(like me, I havae never voted to date) and still live. But truly driving carefully in Philadelphia is the only viable option.

But my obsession with maps continues. I take several printouts from, Google maps, MapQuest, Yahoo Maps, USA Atlas and a book of Pennsylvania Maps in my Acura which is loaded with GPS. I don’t know why I do it but I do it. The only reason I can think of is I want to be certain where I am going so I can reach there without missing. The trauma of a missed airport still haunts me.

Valentine Laments

It is that time of the year, I dread. It is the fast approaching Valentines day that has me in utmost confusion and guilt. Confused for what to get and guilt because of missing it last time as well.

I have never been good with gifts and my poor wife can vouch for it. Why do I lament now? I was told that a Husband should give gifts to a wife on Valentine's Day, Marriage Anniversary and the Birthday. The last 2 I can understand but Valentine's is kind of imposing on you. Highly western and Valentine was a bachelor saint.

So in 2 years of my marriage and 5 gifts, I am out of ideas. 2 times 3 is 5 isn't it. To make the matters more interesting, JARED is on TV all the time. For whatever reason every girl skating or dining is saying that their Husband/Boyfriend has been to Jared. This Jared guy is the diamond guy. I do not see any guy at a golf course or a baseball game, pull out a iPhone and say 'She went to Best Buy'.

Forget about Best Buy, there is nothing on TV that shows a girl going to even Wal-Mart for her husband on a Valentine's Day or any other day. For a game console, the Chinese guy knocks at the door and says we(WII) like to play. I do not want a short Chinese guy at my door wanting to play with me.

Even on a Fathers day, a guy is shown buying a phone to every member of this family member a phone so he gets a 5th phone for free for himself and consoles himself he is the Numero Uno. Of course no one else is ready to proclaim him such anyway.

And then there are songs like 'What a Girl Wants' and 'Diamonds are girls true friends' No such song for the guys. As they said life is never fair for the non fair sex. It is unfair.

I have to get back to my online search in search of a suitable gift. Do I sound like an Indian father trying to find a suitable bride to his daughter. Exactly.

Where does the money of buying gas go?

The following are the component & costs associated with getting gasoline to the pump.
Crude oil: This is cost of the crude obtained by drilling which is later refined.
Refining: The process of turning crude oil into a product that is ready for consumer use is called refining. This is done in refineries.
Distribution and marketing: This is the cost of bringing Gasoline from refineries to gas stations (often via intermediary distribution points), and the costs of operating the stations.
Taxes: Taxes paid to the Federal and State Taxes.

	2004	2005	2007
Crude Oil	47%	53%	58%
Refining	18%	19%	8%
Distribution & Marketing	12%	9%	11%
Taxes	23%	19%	13%

The source is from http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp.

Recylced Rasam and Spicy Burritos

Some of memorable days have been my days at WVU. Every time I think about those days, they bring an involuntary smile over my face especially certain events. Here are some of the events that I experienced first hand and some heard on hearsay.

Recycled Rasam - If you are from South India, you must know what rasam means. It is a common practice among student roommates to share the chores especially cooking. So there was this guy who would recycle the rasam. How is that possible? He would take the rasam made by his room mate the previous day, add some water, salt and rasam powder, reheat it and would say Rasam Ready.

Spicy Burritos - This is an anecdote from personal experience. This guy was from Bombay and had a Peurto Rican and a Brazilian friend. He would hang out with them quite often. So one day he comes and it was his turn to cook food. He asks if we would like to try a Mexican item named Burrito. To me it was exotic. Sounded good Why Not. So he makes spicy scrambled eggs, takes out a tortilla, spreads some Maggi TomChi sauce (which was staple on everything at our home those days) on the tortilla, rolls the tortilla stuffed with Scrambled eggs and say here you go. I think I did like it that one time. But he would make it every time it was his turn.

Fountain - This was my first day at school and I was waiting at the Chairmans office to report my arrival and talk about registering for classes. At the desk was a Student Assistant who was filling in for the secretary. This was the graduate student assistant with whom I took a class later on. After a short wait, I ask this dude where I can find drinking water with my thumb pointing to my mouth. After repeating what I needed, he says there is a fountain outside. To this I felt slighted, why does he want me to go out of the building and drink water from a fountain. I did not want to miss the Chair in search of a fountain as I could see one on my way in. After a short time, I repeat to which he says there is a fountain just outside. What I later found was that there was a water fountain just outside the office door. All this while I was imagining a dirty fountain in the park, that this graduate student was asking to find drinking water.

Cleaning with Tissues - This is from my brothers school at EMU. His roommate takes his bath, dries himself with tissues papers and clogs the flush. He somehow manages to clear the clog that day. It so happened that the clog went a little out and stayed causing the water to fill up and seep through the roof underneath. Imagine the stench for the guys staying below and from the backup. The landlord slaps him with a bill of $2.5 K. At least the clog is cleared.

Togo and For Here - This must be the perennial. Anyone used to Plate or Parcel can sympathize with this guy. This one guy goes to a BK and orders something for lunch. the lady at the counter TOGO or For Here. Having heard it for the first time, he cries neither. He blurbs out, I WANT HERE AND NOW FOR MYSELF TO EAT HERE.

Then there are these cliches like this newcomer sitting on the commode, cleaning in the shower tub etc. No details necessary there.

Happy Sankranthi

It is that time of the year which is the most auspicious for the Andhra Community. It's in essence a harvest festival when the farmers celebrate for the harvest abundance.

It is a four day festival that begins with Bhogi. On Bhogi a bonfire is the major activity of the day. As kids we were anxious to create the bon fire. We would gather woods, leaves whatever that was waste in and around the house from weeks ahead of time. I am not sure if this is still a custom among the youth in present urban India.

The second day is the most important day and is known as Sankranthi or Pongal. The delicious Pongali or Paramannam is made with rice from the harvest. Also a special only on Sankranthi vegetable dish named 'Kalagoora' is made at our home. This vegetable curry is made of pumpkin, beans, red potato and other vegetables that are available in the season. Uttarayana Punnyakalam period begins with Sankranthi and the next six months are considered highly auspicious.


The third day of the festival is Kanuma and is considered the main festival in our Alla Family. On this day my mom would make boorelu, areselu and pongadalu - all traditional uttrandhra sweet items. Also today all the family gathers. The daughters and the son-in-laws visit the family with their kids. It's a tradition to give the daughter and son-in-law monetary and jewellry gifts.

The fourth and final day is referred as Mukkanuma. This marks the end of the festivities. I am not sure of any other significance of this day. I am sure there is one but cannot recollect it now.

Wish you all a Happy Sankranthi and wish you the abundance that life has to offer.

New Year Resolution

It is not my normal practice to have New Year Resolutions and talk about them. To me they are just plain cheesy. But then, being a Libran, I am cheesy sometimes. So I decided to have a resolution. Not many just one. I am afraid I am not going to stick to them, and I said before have resolutions is just cheesy.

The resolution was to create a trilogy of blog that encompass the different facets of me. This is the first in the trilogy - something like The Matrix - the first in the matrix trilogy. This will be my personal blog where I scribble something about the happenings in my life.

As this was about New Year Resolutions, I will say a few things about how I spent my New Year. I was outside my car in the chilly weather watching the sky filled fireworks with tall buildings as the foreground. I had just dropped my parents and brother at the riverfront where the view would have been spectacular. But then since there was no good place to park, as it always is on an event like this, I had to drive back and wait in my car to go back to pick them up to my brothers place.

The fireworks were great, made a quick call to my better half who was at work on the stroke of midnight. The next was the great mummers parade. I watched it for about 4 hours and could not take the cold anymore.

The thought to have these blogs came to me on the weekend before the New Year while I was on a long drive to my home. I had all the content and layout planned, all during the drive. Now I am struggling to remember what the third blog would be for. The second one is my tech blog