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.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
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.
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.
Labels:
Getting Old,
Modern Life
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
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.
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.
Labels:
Homeless in Philadelphia
Friday, December 12, 2008
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.
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.
Labels:
Credit,
Debt,
Prudent Living
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Did I reap something?
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)