I discovered a new restaurant in Chandigarh which left me with just one question - How can a restaurant serve such tasty food and yet have such poor service?
There's a restaurant called "Noodle Bar" that I'd heard of but never got to visit. On a lark one day I decided to check it out. I made a few calls but only one of my friends seemed interested in going. So I took him and went to the restaurant. The place specializes in Chinese/Thai food along with some Italian dishes. The food is reasonably priced and was quite tasty. ("The food was not undelicious.") It also seemed to be a very "happening" place in the sense that there were a lot of young people at the place. Maybe to visit the bar/lounge/club that was in the back. Nevertheless, that was when I decided to visit the place again. The big negative though was the service which really sucked. The main dishes took forever coming and we were quite pissed off. We left a very small tip to convey our displeasure and left.
The next weekend I was craving the food again and I went by myself this time. When I walked into the restaurant it was relatively empty (only three tables were occupied out of a total of about 30. Still, they gave me a corner table for two, which I didn't mind in the slightest. The food arrived which was quite tasty as usual. But as I was eating, the place slowly filled up. A family of about nine people showed up after the restaurant was almost full. There was only one vacant table which could seat six and it was right next to my table. As I was eating I noticed out of the corner of my eye, the family indicating that they wanted to sit at that table and the waiter explaining to them that as soon as I got up, they'd join the two tables and the entire family could be seated there. Now, to their credit, neither the family nor the restaurant staff said a single word to me about leaving early or even make a gesture (an impatient sigh, an awkward glance etc) to make me feel uncomfortable. Having said that, when six of the family members were seated by the staff at that table, and the remaining members are just walking around the restaurant making it plainly clear that they were waiting for me to leave, it really made finishing my meal very difficult. Ideally the patrons would be asked to wait outside the restaurant while the restaurant got their table ready. But by seating part of the group there and asking the others to walk around, they really ruined my dining experience.
Maybe I expected too much from the restaurant. But anyway you slice it, it showed once again that single people in this country have a horrible life. They are not allowed to live with any sort of dignity. I say "people" because while only single guys face these awkward and humiliating situations, girls have it worse because it would be unthinkable for a girl to, say, go out to eat by herself or try to rent a room by herself etc. I will go back to that restaurant again though, but this time with a group of friends.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
I am Santa
I dressed up as Santa at work today (two days before Christmas).
At the market the other day I saw these Christmas hats and began thinking about how I actually do miss that silly season. I don't really miss the endless Christmas songs everytime I turn on the radio on the rather materialistic aspect of the festival that turns everything into a sale. But I miss the festive atmosphere, the smiles on everyone's faces, the attitude of giving and in general the feeling of "It's the end of the year and the beginning of a new one."
So I bought myself a Christmas hat and wore it to work the next day. Immediately my team members came up with the idea of the four of us wearing these hats at work, to give it more of a festive atmosphere. So we did. And it worked exactly as I wanted it to. Everyone that saw the four of us in those hats smiled. I'm pretty sure it really cheered up the entire office. And then our wonderful facilities manager came up with his own suggestion. He had a "Santa's beard" bought at some store, along with a bag of candy. He got me to dress up as Santa (with a Black coat instead of a Red one!) and I really got into the part as well. We walked to all the departments in the office shouting "Ho! Ho! Ho!" and "Merry Christmas!" and I gave everyone some candy! It was a lot of fun.
At the market the other day I saw these Christmas hats and began thinking about how I actually do miss that silly season. I don't really miss the endless Christmas songs everytime I turn on the radio on the rather materialistic aspect of the festival that turns everything into a sale. But I miss the festive atmosphere, the smiles on everyone's faces, the attitude of giving and in general the feeling of "It's the end of the year and the beginning of a new one."
So I bought myself a Christmas hat and wore it to work the next day. Immediately my team members came up with the idea of the four of us wearing these hats at work, to give it more of a festive atmosphere. So we did. And it worked exactly as I wanted it to. Everyone that saw the four of us in those hats smiled. I'm pretty sure it really cheered up the entire office. And then our wonderful facilities manager came up with his own suggestion. He had a "Santa's beard" bought at some store, along with a bag of candy. He got me to dress up as Santa (with a Black coat instead of a Red one!) and I really got into the part as well. We walked to all the departments in the office shouting "Ho! Ho! Ho!" and "Merry Christmas!" and I gave everyone some candy! It was a lot of fun.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
... and then the elephant pooped!
OMG!! I just went to the circus! I had heard that the circus was in town but it never really registered till I saw the big tent on my way home one day. I tried to gather a group to go there but apparently people these days are too "grown up" for these type of things. Once again I was left taking only one other friend with me, so while it sucked not to have a big group, which would have make the experience even more enjoyable, I was thankful to have atleast one other person go with me.
The last time I went to the circus was about 20 years ago atleast. I don't remember much from that day except that we were quite a bit far away from the action. So this time I bought the most expensive tickets; I wanted to be really close to the action and in particular, I wanted to hear the banter of the clowns! The show started off with the trapeze. I thought I'd be watching the circus more out of ironic appreciation but I found myself at the edge of my seat as the trapeze act started. The performers were performing flips in the air, crisscrossing each other, swapping the trapeze for the arms of a teammate and then back to the trapeze. For one series they turned out the lights and being as tense as I was, I almost shouted out for them to turn on the lights! It wasn't all great though - one of the main performers dropped the person he was supposed to catch. Twice! There was net below them so that broke their fall but they were slammed, rather painfully I imagine, into the net. Since they were moving horizontally at the moment the slip occurred, both the performers who fell, slammed into the net so hard that the dust that had accumulated in the nets flew into the air around us. I gasped out loud at that point.
Then an elephant showed up, gripped a girl in its trunk. The elephant got up on a smal table with all four legs, then sat (a** backwards) on the same table. and got up on its hind-legs, all the while holding the girl in its trunk. Then the girl put her leg into the mouth of the elephant and it gripped that leg with its mouth and very slowly swung around in a complete circle as the girl hung upside down! I know it was a trained elephant but it was still very excited to watch. Of course, while making the circle the elephant pooped! It cracked me up!! How embarrassing for the organizers!
There were birds, dogs and a horse as well. There was a troupe of Africans who did a bunch of energetic balancing acts and gymnastics. A group of Armenians who did more delicate balancing acts, almost like a ballet. A group of girls, in their inappropriately sexy dresses hung on to a universal joint as they spun themselves around. More than the animals, watching these girls (aged 10-15) made me really sad. It's very unlikely that these children will have normal lives, and be allowed to grow up in a normal fashion, with normal feelings. But then again, I suppose atleast they didn't need to beg on the streets or prostitute themselves.
The other thing that made me a little sad was the attitude of the people who came to watch. Now it was a Sunday night show and maybe people were just tired. But it seemed like I was the only one clapping. Hell, it seemed like I was the only one enjoying the show. The others, including my friend who came with me, were sitting very quietly, watching with the attitude of people who had paid a lot of money and weren't going to stoop to the level of applauding a good show. It made me hope I never lose my sense of wonder and joy at these small things. It was a great show after all.
The last time I went to the circus was about 20 years ago atleast. I don't remember much from that day except that we were quite a bit far away from the action. So this time I bought the most expensive tickets; I wanted to be really close to the action and in particular, I wanted to hear the banter of the clowns! The show started off with the trapeze. I thought I'd be watching the circus more out of ironic appreciation but I found myself at the edge of my seat as the trapeze act started. The performers were performing flips in the air, crisscrossing each other, swapping the trapeze for the arms of a teammate and then back to the trapeze. For one series they turned out the lights and being as tense as I was, I almost shouted out for them to turn on the lights! It wasn't all great though - one of the main performers dropped the person he was supposed to catch. Twice! There was net below them so that broke their fall but they were slammed, rather painfully I imagine, into the net. Since they were moving horizontally at the moment the slip occurred, both the performers who fell, slammed into the net so hard that the dust that had accumulated in the nets flew into the air around us. I gasped out loud at that point.
Then an elephant showed up, gripped a girl in its trunk. The elephant got up on a smal table with all four legs, then sat (a** backwards) on the same table. and got up on its hind-legs, all the while holding the girl in its trunk. Then the girl put her leg into the mouth of the elephant and it gripped that leg with its mouth and very slowly swung around in a complete circle as the girl hung upside down! I know it was a trained elephant but it was still very excited to watch. Of course, while making the circle the elephant pooped! It cracked me up!! How embarrassing for the organizers!
There were birds, dogs and a horse as well. There was a troupe of Africans who did a bunch of energetic balancing acts and gymnastics. A group of Armenians who did more delicate balancing acts, almost like a ballet. A group of girls, in their inappropriately sexy dresses hung on to a universal joint as they spun themselves around. More than the animals, watching these girls (aged 10-15) made me really sad. It's very unlikely that these children will have normal lives, and be allowed to grow up in a normal fashion, with normal feelings. But then again, I suppose atleast they didn't need to beg on the streets or prostitute themselves.
The other thing that made me a little sad was the attitude of the people who came to watch. Now it was a Sunday night show and maybe people were just tired. But it seemed like I was the only one clapping. Hell, it seemed like I was the only one enjoying the show. The others, including my friend who came with me, were sitting very quietly, watching with the attitude of people who had paid a lot of money and weren't going to stoop to the level of applauding a good show. It made me hope I never lose my sense of wonder and joy at these small things. It was a great show after all.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Conversion of units
At work recently I got into a little bit of trouble for mixing up my units. It caused me anxiety for about 20 mins but it got resolved immediately after. But that got me thinking about units a lot. Engineers have to be able to switch back and forth between units easily. In particular, like me, if you work for an MNC (and who isn't these days) you have to be able to switch between various systems of units. You have to know the values of various constants and material properties in these units. I'm getting quite good at it.
To add another wrinkle, I've spent a lot of my adult life in the US and now am living in India. So there are other units that come into picture as well. Like temperature. Till recently my weather add-on on Firefox was set to read temperature in F. Whenever someone tells me their weight in kgs, I mentally multiply by 2.2 for it to become a sensible number. Inches get multiplied by 25.4 to become mm. Distance is talked about in time, so that's not a problem as such. Like I said, I am getting good at it :)
But speaking of time, another situation I have to deal with is time zones. In addition to my friends who live there and whom I talk to regularly, we also have work meetings that need to be scheduled. This requires knowing the time in the US. Worst of all are the weekends in the fall - football. Life used to be so good in the US, every weekend during the daytime I'd watch College Football on Saturdays, NFL on Sundays. Monday mornings I'd read the analysis that would follow. Now the games start during my night. If there are any Longhorn or Colts games that start at 11:30pm IST (morning games in the US), I end up staying up for a few hours to follow the game online. If there are any games that are scheduled for the afternoon, I spend a restless night worrying about the results of the games and end up waking up really early to check the scores. For evening/night games (that start during the morning here) I end up staying at home for longer than is appropriate on a Monday morning. Worse, there's nothing to do during the weekends here and that just amplifies the knowledge that I'm losing out on all the fun of the Fall weekends.
To add another wrinkle, I've spent a lot of my adult life in the US and now am living in India. So there are other units that come into picture as well. Like temperature. Till recently my weather add-on on Firefox was set to read temperature in F. Whenever someone tells me their weight in kgs, I mentally multiply by 2.2 for it to become a sensible number. Inches get multiplied by 25.4 to become mm. Distance is talked about in time, so that's not a problem as such. Like I said, I am getting good at it :)
But speaking of time, another situation I have to deal with is time zones. In addition to my friends who live there and whom I talk to regularly, we also have work meetings that need to be scheduled. This requires knowing the time in the US. Worst of all are the weekends in the fall - football. Life used to be so good in the US, every weekend during the daytime I'd watch College Football on Saturdays, NFL on Sundays. Monday mornings I'd read the analysis that would follow. Now the games start during my night. If there are any Longhorn or Colts games that start at 11:30pm IST (morning games in the US), I end up staying up for a few hours to follow the game online. If there are any games that are scheduled for the afternoon, I spend a restless night worrying about the results of the games and end up waking up really early to check the scores. For evening/night games (that start during the morning here) I end up staying at home for longer than is appropriate on a Monday morning. Worse, there's nothing to do during the weekends here and that just amplifies the knowledge that I'm losing out on all the fun of the Fall weekends.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Hindi-on-Hindi hatred
With the recent additions we now have two employees in the office who are from Bihar. They speak English and Hindi in the stereotypical Bihari accent. For English this means that all the "sh" sounds become "s" and the sentence syntax follows Hindi grammar rather than English grammar. "What value you are getting?" "What time the bus is coming?" "Why you are doing this?" etc. Make no mistake, it's hilarious as hell and way too easy to mock.
What I find interesting is that these Biharis (atleast one of them) gets mocked mercilessly by the other North Indians here. They mock his accent and mannerisms endlessly. I was partially turned off because frankly I kinda respect this guy. But more importantly I was surprised at the "Hindi-on-Hindi" hatred. Isn't this guy "one of your own"? Obviously not. You see, in the South, I know there's a lot of inter-mocking between people who speak the various languages. I can report first hand about the way the Telugus mock the broken Telugu that is spoken by the immigrants into the state. Similarly I'm sure the Tamilians mock the "gults" and so on. It's just the way of life. So that's why it's surprising to see these people who speak the same language mocking each other.
For what it's worth, there is a huge economic component to this. Bihar being a poor state, Biharis who come to the Punjab/Haryana/Chandigarh regions come there for jobs. So the more affluent Punjabis look down upon the Biharis in general. Most of the staff that works in the kitchens etc in our office is from Bihar. But even with these new employees joining in engineering positions, the old stereotypes and attitudes are prevailing. Personally even though I have an extremely negative opinion of Bihar and its residents, I find it very hard to mock the individuals because they aren't the stereotypes that I'm come to associate with that state. For that matter, even the Punjabis (Sikhs) whom we used to tease when younger aren't mock-able because I work with them and get to know them. Sigh, I hate growing up.
What I find interesting is that these Biharis (atleast one of them) gets mocked mercilessly by the other North Indians here. They mock his accent and mannerisms endlessly. I was partially turned off because frankly I kinda respect this guy. But more importantly I was surprised at the "Hindi-on-Hindi" hatred. Isn't this guy "one of your own"? Obviously not. You see, in the South, I know there's a lot of inter-mocking between people who speak the various languages. I can report first hand about the way the Telugus mock the broken Telugu that is spoken by the immigrants into the state. Similarly I'm sure the Tamilians mock the "gults" and so on. It's just the way of life. So that's why it's surprising to see these people who speak the same language mocking each other.
For what it's worth, there is a huge economic component to this. Bihar being a poor state, Biharis who come to the Punjab/Haryana/Chandigarh regions come there for jobs. So the more affluent Punjabis look down upon the Biharis in general. Most of the staff that works in the kitchens etc in our office is from Bihar. But even with these new employees joining in engineering positions, the old stereotypes and attitudes are prevailing. Personally even though I have an extremely negative opinion of Bihar and its residents, I find it very hard to mock the individuals because they aren't the stereotypes that I'm come to associate with that state. For that matter, even the Punjabis (Sikhs) whom we used to tease when younger aren't mock-able because I work with them and get to know them. Sigh, I hate growing up.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Why are they allowing child porn on satellite TV?
Imagine the sexy Beyonce singing "My body is too bootylicious" or the incomparable Marilyn Monroe standing on subway vent while her skirt billowed around her. Just perfect, right? Now imagine a girl of four years doing either of those, complete with the dress and everything? Disgusting! So why do local stations think it's OK?
It's become very trendy to have talent shows for kids. They sell. The kids are extremely talented and very cute. It blows my mind sometimes to watch them perform, either sing or dance. One Hindi channel even has a kid perform a solo comedy sketch and she's very funny in it. And then one day I saw something that made me wish I could unsee it. A little girl, not more than four years of age, wearing something that would make even Mallika Sherawat blush, dancing to a vulgar "item song" - రాత్రైనా నాకు OK, పగలైన నాక్ OK. The lyrics of the song (translated) are - "Nighttime is fine by me, I'm OK with daytime too"; I'll leave you to imagine what the singer is claiming to be OK with. The next time I turned on the program, she was dancing to అబ్బనీ తీయ్యని దెబ్బా.
I do believe that there is a certain level to cuteness to be found in young children behaving like adults. But I also believe that there's a certain line that you shouldn't cross and this program crossed it. The sad thing is, the little girl won't realize how screwed up her life is going to get till it actually does. All she sees is the crowd going wild and the judges heaping abundant praise on her. She doesn't understand the lyrics of the song or why her dress is completely inappropriate. I just hope she loses early enough so she can put this behind her. God save her.
It's become very trendy to have talent shows for kids. They sell. The kids are extremely talented and very cute. It blows my mind sometimes to watch them perform, either sing or dance. One Hindi channel even has a kid perform a solo comedy sketch and she's very funny in it. And then one day I saw something that made me wish I could unsee it. A little girl, not more than four years of age, wearing something that would make even Mallika Sherawat blush, dancing to a vulgar "item song" - రాత్రైనా నాకు OK, పగలైన నాక్ OK. The lyrics of the song (translated) are - "Nighttime is fine by me, I'm OK with daytime too"; I'll leave you to imagine what the singer is claiming to be OK with. The next time I turned on the program, she was dancing to అబ్బనీ తీయ్యని దెబ్బా.
I do believe that there is a certain level to cuteness to be found in young children behaving like adults. But I also believe that there's a certain line that you shouldn't cross and this program crossed it. The sad thing is, the little girl won't realize how screwed up her life is going to get till it actually does. All she sees is the crowd going wild and the judges heaping abundant praise on her. She doesn't understand the lyrics of the song or why her dress is completely inappropriate. I just hope she loses early enough so she can put this behind her. God save her.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
What a difference a manager makes
We have a new manager. This marks a sad day in the history of this blog since I can no longer use the word "manager" in the same sentence as "idiot", "incompetent", "joker" etc. The new guy is at about 80% of what I'd like in an ideal manager. He knows his stuff when it comes to the tools we use. He has experience in the field and he is utterly no nonsense. I'm enjoying working with him and am loving picking his brains on various work-related topics. What I've discovered, and this is hardly new, is that for a job to be fun, both the manager and the employee should be at the same level of seriousness and willingness to work. In this case I think that is 100% true. On the flip side, he's a little weak in the fundamentals and is a little too stubborn in some situations. Today I wasted two hours trying to convince him that he is wrong and that we should solve the problem my way. Ultimately I gave up and just waited for him to leave, did the problem my way and finished the assignment. In the olden days I could easily convince my boss that I was right (if I was right). But now if the new manager also disagree with me, since my boss respects him quite a bit, I have to fight a lot to make my point. I can't complain too much since the guy before him had no idea what the hell was going on anyway and ... well, you know enough about how that guy was, I don't need to bring it up again.
On a related note, it's obscene how excited I get about work these days. The last days in particular I've been practically giddy at the thought of doing the work and discussing the ins and outs of the problem with my boss and my manager. Of course that just means I'll get promoted since "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence".
On a related note, it's obscene how excited I get about work these days. The last days in particular I've been practically giddy at the thought of doing the work and discussing the ins and outs of the problem with my boss and my manager. Of course that just means I'll get promoted since "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence".
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Mahanandi: Part 2
The temple is in the middle of a forest. Dad said that it had hardly changed since his last visit there. There is a spring that supplies water to a well inside the temple where people take a dip before going into the temple. I was reluctant to get inside at first because the water didn't seem too clean. But I changed my mind after a while, only this time, I couldn't find our driver, who had the car keys, so I could get my change of clothes. The dip in the well just wasn't for me this time.
When we reached the temple, I saw a sign that said that between 10am and 11am, the entry into the temple is free. Awesome, I thought, it was 10:30am, so our timing was perfect. However the gatekeeper there was suggesting to everyone that came there that they should probably buy the entance tickets because if they took time swimming around in the well, they would miss the free darshan times. The paid darshan was Rs. 3. OK, not bad. As I went to buy the tickets, the guy at the counter asked if I wanted the regular darshan or the special darshan. What's the difference, I asked. Well, he replied, in the special darshan you actually get to touch the idol inside. Hmm, I don't particularly care but I thought my dad would like it. So I got these tickets instead, for Rs. 20. When I went back to my dad with the tickets, he said that we should get tickets for the "abhisekham" (ceremonial showering of the idol) as well. Turned out the price for darshan with abhiseskham was Rs. 125. So I went back to the counter and convinced the guy to take back the Rs. 20 tickets and give me tickets for the abhisekam instead. He grumbled about taking tickets back but agreed in the end. Then he asked me if I wanted regular abhisekham or special abhisekham. What's that, I asked. Well in special abhisekham you get a "kanduva" (an over cloth) and two laddus. For Rs. 250 each. OK fine, give me those instead. Also, apparently you could only use each abhisekham ticket for two people, so I had to purchase a second ticket. With those tickets in hand I asked him if he would give me the materials for the abhisekham. That's a separate purchase, he said. Rs. 80. So basically, for a darshan that would have been FREE, we ended up spending Rs. 580. And we weren't close to being done.
The abhisekham was well worth it. They got us sitting next to the idol and made us perform the abhisekham with our own hands. My parents were really thrilled. BTW, the extra Rs. 250 we paid for the special abhisekham was totally worth it because it turned out that you were not supposed to wear anything above your waist (only for men) as you performed the abhisekham, and there was no way in hell I was going to sit there shirtless for any amount of time without something to cover myself. As we were finishing, the pujari asked for "dakshina", dad paid him Rs. 30. From that point onward, the way to exit the temple was a big maze. They had interconnected all the mini-shrines inside so that you would have to pass all of them as you left the temple. And at each station the pujaris were offering their own services for performing archanas at moderates prices, which they were still NOT supposed to do. Some were offering lamps to be lit at 9 for Rs. 20. SOme were selling rudraksha beads at Rs. 5 each. It was a bit ugly to watch but atleast it was better than that temple in Jammu. (Dear Jammu temple, your position in the top 2 WORST temples in the world is secure.)
We got to eat lunch at the same place we had breakfast a few hours earlier. It was a really nice hotel/restaurant with very nice service. Our waiter treated us like we were from the groom's side at a wedding! Even as we gave our orders together, he insisted on serving us only after we finished each course so that the items wouldn't get cold! Very nice of him. As I am typing this we're still about 100 kms from Hyderabad and I'm hoping the rest of the journey will be uneventful.
When we reached the temple, I saw a sign that said that between 10am and 11am, the entry into the temple is free. Awesome, I thought, it was 10:30am, so our timing was perfect. However the gatekeeper there was suggesting to everyone that came there that they should probably buy the entance tickets because if they took time swimming around in the well, they would miss the free darshan times. The paid darshan was Rs. 3. OK, not bad. As I went to buy the tickets, the guy at the counter asked if I wanted the regular darshan or the special darshan. What's the difference, I asked. Well, he replied, in the special darshan you actually get to touch the idol inside. Hmm, I don't particularly care but I thought my dad would like it. So I got these tickets instead, for Rs. 20. When I went back to my dad with the tickets, he said that we should get tickets for the "abhisekham" (ceremonial showering of the idol) as well. Turned out the price for darshan with abhiseskham was Rs. 125. So I went back to the counter and convinced the guy to take back the Rs. 20 tickets and give me tickets for the abhisekam instead. He grumbled about taking tickets back but agreed in the end. Then he asked me if I wanted regular abhisekham or special abhisekham. What's that, I asked. Well in special abhisekham you get a "kanduva" (an over cloth) and two laddus. For Rs. 250 each. OK fine, give me those instead. Also, apparently you could only use each abhisekham ticket for two people, so I had to purchase a second ticket. With those tickets in hand I asked him if he would give me the materials for the abhisekham. That's a separate purchase, he said. Rs. 80. So basically, for a darshan that would have been FREE, we ended up spending Rs. 580. And we weren't close to being done.
The abhisekham was well worth it. They got us sitting next to the idol and made us perform the abhisekham with our own hands. My parents were really thrilled. BTW, the extra Rs. 250 we paid for the special abhisekham was totally worth it because it turned out that you were not supposed to wear anything above your waist (only for men) as you performed the abhisekham, and there was no way in hell I was going to sit there shirtless for any amount of time without something to cover myself. As we were finishing, the pujari asked for "dakshina", dad paid him Rs. 30. From that point onward, the way to exit the temple was a big maze. They had interconnected all the mini-shrines inside so that you would have to pass all of them as you left the temple. And at each station the pujaris were offering their own services for performing archanas at moderates prices, which they were still NOT supposed to do. Some were offering lamps to be lit at 9 for Rs. 20. SOme were selling rudraksha beads at Rs. 5 each. It was a bit ugly to watch but atleast it was better than that temple in Jammu. (Dear Jammu temple, your position in the top 2 WORST temples in the world is secure.)
We got to eat lunch at the same place we had breakfast a few hours earlier. It was a really nice hotel/restaurant with very nice service. Our waiter treated us like we were from the groom's side at a wedding! Even as we gave our orders together, he insisted on serving us only after we finished each course so that the items wouldn't get cold! Very nice of him. As I am typing this we're still about 100 kms from Hyderabad and I'm hoping the rest of the journey will be uneventful.
Mahanandi: Part 1
I'm typing this on my dad's "EE PC" (sorry bro) , a really tiny laptop, while sitting in a car, on our way back from Mahanandi, a place in the middle of the great state of Andhra Pradesh. I have two backlogged blog entries that I was hoping to finish typing up before this but I just had to write up about this trip.
Apparently my dad visited this place before his marriage and he'd been trying to take my mom on this trip for the last 30 years or so of their marriage. It never worked out for some reason or the other. I had made a flying visit to Hyd to take care of some stuff, and I was here only for Fri, Sat and Sun. I took care of my stuff on Fri and I asked my parents what they would like to do during the weekend. Among a host of other suggestions, my mom threw out the Mahanandi plan. I liked it immediately. It was going to take a 5-6hr drive each way but seeing as my dad wanted to revisit this place so much, I jumped on it.
We woke up at 3am and started getting ready for the trip. Dad got one of the drivers from his company and we took off by 4:30am. I was really looking forward to driving on the newly opened PV Narasimha Rao expressway in the city. It was fun, I can see how young people in the city would love to drive on this road at night. The entire road is basically a flyover, and it is not flat, so you feel like you're floating down a river of lights as you cruise on this 11kms long highway. I am not sure of the utility, I don't think it saves more than 15 minutes for the passengers on their way to the airport, and if that's the case, I don't think it's worth it. We passed out almost immediately after leaving the city but woke up around sunrise. It was a really beautiful drive. The weirdest part for me was seeing herds of camels walking on the highway. What were camels doing in this part of the country! The highway itself was very nice and well maintained. The roads were clean and smooth, a far cry from the time our family took to Tirupathi many years ago.
Of course, the biggest problem with a trip this long is the availability (or lack) of bathroom facilities. At one point we spent 30 mins just looking for a neat restaurant with a bathroom. But even accounting for that and three other stops for coffee and food, we reached our destination about 6 hours after we started.
Apparently my dad visited this place before his marriage and he'd been trying to take my mom on this trip for the last 30 years or so of their marriage. It never worked out for some reason or the other. I had made a flying visit to Hyd to take care of some stuff, and I was here only for Fri, Sat and Sun. I took care of my stuff on Fri and I asked my parents what they would like to do during the weekend. Among a host of other suggestions, my mom threw out the Mahanandi plan. I liked it immediately. It was going to take a 5-6hr drive each way but seeing as my dad wanted to revisit this place so much, I jumped on it.
We woke up at 3am and started getting ready for the trip. Dad got one of the drivers from his company and we took off by 4:30am. I was really looking forward to driving on the newly opened PV Narasimha Rao expressway in the city. It was fun, I can see how young people in the city would love to drive on this road at night. The entire road is basically a flyover, and it is not flat, so you feel like you're floating down a river of lights as you cruise on this 11kms long highway. I am not sure of the utility, I don't think it saves more than 15 minutes for the passengers on their way to the airport, and if that's the case, I don't think it's worth it. We passed out almost immediately after leaving the city but woke up around sunrise. It was a really beautiful drive. The weirdest part for me was seeing herds of camels walking on the highway. What were camels doing in this part of the country! The highway itself was very nice and well maintained. The roads were clean and smooth, a far cry from the time our family took to Tirupathi many years ago.
Of course, the biggest problem with a trip this long is the availability (or lack) of bathroom facilities. At one point we spent 30 mins just looking for a neat restaurant with a bathroom. But even accounting for that and three other stops for coffee and food, we reached our destination about 6 hours after we started.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Time for another pictorial
This was at a mall slightly outside the city. Double level parking. I was very surprised to see this here. This is essentially long term parking because the upper car can't be removed till the lower car is removed. Either that or the owner gave the car keys to the attendant, and that's clearly impossible :)
This is a "stepney" in Chandigarh (you can see the Haryana license plate) covered with a stepney cover of a Telugu movie. And not just any Telugu movie, a movie dubbed from Tamil. How awesome is this country!
One driver on a motorcyle pulling along his friend on another motorcycle whose vehicle wasn't working. In addition to being shocked at the extremely unsafe practice, I admired the physical strength of both drivers to be able to maintain their balance and hold on to either handlebar for any amount of time.
The old man on the flight
"So what do you think of this Koda guy?"
That's how it began. I was on my flight from Delhi to Hyderabad for a quick visit. I was sitting next to this elderly Telugu couple. After I spoke to them in Telugu a few mins earlier, the man realized I was Telugu and decided to engage me in conversation. Koda is a thief of a CM about whom I'll probably write about later in this blog. For now, I told him how I felt about corrupt politicians and he suggested nothing short of actually killing all corrupt politicians. We went on to discuss AP politics. He wasn't a fan of any particular party but we both agreed that our former CM YSR was a brilliant strategist. That the entire Congress party is reading the situation in the country very well and playing their cards well - not caving in to the Telangana movement, not caving in to the "YSR's son for CM" faction etc.
At that point I was surprised by how many assumptions he made about me and how was OK with voicing them. He talked about how neat Dubai is even if it is run by a **** (a derogatory term for a Muslim). Then he went on to ask me about my caste, he asked me if I belonged to a particular caste! Just like that! I didn't hide it, and he went on to talk about how great that particular caste is and that they are the only ones who are capable of sustaining the culture of the state and the Hindus in general (he's from a different caste but has a great deal of respect for my caste, and that was a little weird to be given any respect solely based on caste). What was mildly surprising was that he guessed my caste based on my diction. I was brought up almost entirely in Hyderabad and I always thought I had a very "city" accent, but evidently not. He asked me about my age, if I was married, how much money my company makes and so on. I got the feeling that if I was single he would have fixed me up with a relative of his. His own daughters were a few years older than me and I really think that bummed him out that I couldn't marrry either of them. Hmm, mildly flattering.
The guy himself was very interesting. He seemed to be about 65 years old. He is a businessman, and never studied beyond 6th grade. He felt bad about it and later in life he donated Rs. 2 crores (an amount of money that I will probably never end up owning, let alone donating!) to a college, which now bears his name. He talked about the importance of education and how once the country improves itself in education, it'll improve a lot. He is a very strict vegetarian and his wife is even stricter and can't even eat food when there's meat nearby. The two were returning from a trip to Nepal, apparently the place sucked! (Good to know since I was planning a trip there myself at some point.) He and his wife went on to tell me about a particular devotional channel and some program by a religious head.
When the flight landed I left without saying goodbye. He did make me a little uncomfortable but ultimately I was just in a hurry to get home. I did think of calling him because he gave me his card but even that I skipped on. He did make the flight very interesting though.
That's how it began. I was on my flight from Delhi to Hyderabad for a quick visit. I was sitting next to this elderly Telugu couple. After I spoke to them in Telugu a few mins earlier, the man realized I was Telugu and decided to engage me in conversation. Koda is a thief of a CM about whom I'll probably write about later in this blog. For now, I told him how I felt about corrupt politicians and he suggested nothing short of actually killing all corrupt politicians. We went on to discuss AP politics. He wasn't a fan of any particular party but we both agreed that our former CM YSR was a brilliant strategist. That the entire Congress party is reading the situation in the country very well and playing their cards well - not caving in to the Telangana movement, not caving in to the "YSR's son for CM" faction etc.
At that point I was surprised by how many assumptions he made about me and how was OK with voicing them. He talked about how neat Dubai is even if it is run by a **** (a derogatory term for a Muslim). Then he went on to ask me about my caste, he asked me if I belonged to a particular caste! Just like that! I didn't hide it, and he went on to talk about how great that particular caste is and that they are the only ones who are capable of sustaining the culture of the state and the Hindus in general (he's from a different caste but has a great deal of respect for my caste, and that was a little weird to be given any respect solely based on caste). What was mildly surprising was that he guessed my caste based on my diction. I was brought up almost entirely in Hyderabad and I always thought I had a very "city" accent, but evidently not. He asked me about my age, if I was married, how much money my company makes and so on. I got the feeling that if I was single he would have fixed me up with a relative of his. His own daughters were a few years older than me and I really think that bummed him out that I couldn't marrry either of them. Hmm, mildly flattering.
The guy himself was very interesting. He seemed to be about 65 years old. He is a businessman, and never studied beyond 6th grade. He felt bad about it and later in life he donated Rs. 2 crores (an amount of money that I will probably never end up owning, let alone donating!) to a college, which now bears his name. He talked about the importance of education and how once the country improves itself in education, it'll improve a lot. He is a very strict vegetarian and his wife is even stricter and can't even eat food when there's meat nearby. The two were returning from a trip to Nepal, apparently the place sucked! (Good to know since I was planning a trip there myself at some point.) He and his wife went on to tell me about a particular devotional channel and some program by a religious head.
When the flight landed I left without saying goodbye. He did make me a little uncomfortable but ultimately I was just in a hurry to get home. I did think of calling him because he gave me his card but even that I skipped on. He did make the flight very interesting though.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Starstruck
On my flight from Chandigarh to Hyd (via Delhi), I saw a girl get on who looked vaguely familiar. Almost instantly I figured out that this was an actress, and definitely a lesser-known one. From that point on, this is sort of how my thoughts went - "Hmm, she looks familiar. You know what, she must be one of those N. Indian actresses who act in Telugu movies in small roles or item numbers. What is her name?" About 30 minutes pass. I couldn't recollect either her first name or her last name. So I decided that since she's traveling from Chandigarh, her last name must be "Kaur". So I wondered, "Hmm, Kaur. OK, what Kaur? Think, think, think." And finally I decided to try the brute force method and ran down the letter of the alphabet. "A something Kaur? B something Kaur?" When I finally came to N, her name popped up in my head "Navneet Kaur". She's done some item numbers and maybe even a small movie somewhere. Sadly I arrived at her name after boarding my Hyd flight, or I would have tried to talk to her. Or so I told myself.
As if to test my theory, on my return journey, in Hyderabad, a beautiful woman boarded the flight. This one I recognized. Anuskha Shetty. (She looks even more beautiful in real life than in her movies.) Before the shock wore off, I realized her seat was right across the aisle from me. Oh geez, thank you very much God for calling me out on my "I'd talk to an actress if I remembered her name" bluff. So for the remaining two hours I tried to think of some smart way to talk to her. Since she was across the aisle from me, I didn't want to have a lengthy conversation but I did want to wish her a Happy Birthday (her birthday was a couple of days ago) and tell her I liked her in "Arundhathi". But there wasn't a good time at all. She went to sleep almost immediately, and when she wasn't sleeping, she was reading a book on Yoga (She used to be a yoga instructor before becoming an actress). Even at the Delhi airport I saw her a few times and she even walked right in front of me but I totally chickened out. There's always a next time to try out my "be cool with a celebrity" behavior.
BTW, it wasn't totally random that I saw two actresses during my Hyd trip. There was a fundraiser in Hyderabad to generate money for the victims of the recent floods and almost every single big actor/actress in Telugu was in town. So I was bound to run into some or the other actor. Also, the reason I knew it was Anushka's birthday two days ago was because they announced it at the fundraiser.
As if to test my theory, on my return journey, in Hyderabad, a beautiful woman boarded the flight. This one I recognized. Anuskha Shetty. (She looks even more beautiful in real life than in her movies.) Before the shock wore off, I realized her seat was right across the aisle from me. Oh geez, thank you very much God for calling me out on my "I'd talk to an actress if I remembered her name" bluff. So for the remaining two hours I tried to think of some smart way to talk to her. Since she was across the aisle from me, I didn't want to have a lengthy conversation but I did want to wish her a Happy Birthday (her birthday was a couple of days ago) and tell her I liked her in "Arundhathi". But there wasn't a good time at all. She went to sleep almost immediately, and when she wasn't sleeping, she was reading a book on Yoga (She used to be a yoga instructor before becoming an actress). Even at the Delhi airport I saw her a few times and she even walked right in front of me but I totally chickened out. There's always a next time to try out my "be cool with a celebrity" behavior.
BTW, it wasn't totally random that I saw two actresses during my Hyd trip. There was a fundraiser in Hyderabad to generate money for the victims of the recent floods and almost every single big actor/actress in Telugu was in town. So I was bound to run into some or the other actor. Also, the reason I knew it was Anushka's birthday two days ago was because they announced it at the fundraiser.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Big egos in little Chandigarh
It's been a busy couple of days at work for me. The boss gave us a project and appointed me the leader on the project. All the work would flow through me, so I have been assigning work and training the newer engineers etc. After they worked on the basics, I took over and started the more detailed stuff. At that point the others didn't have much work and they were idling.
On this particular day, after a long day of work where I barely glanced away from my computer, I called up my boss who wasn't in town, and explained to him the status of the project. While I was talking to him, I had a game of FreeCell open and was idly clicking away at the cards. At this point I noticed a guy standing behind two members of my team. He had been looking at their computer screens for a while and then he was talking to them. I didn't pay much attention because I was on the phone. When I was done, he came over to my station and pointing at my screen, said, "What are you doing?" More than a little peeved, I replied, "I was talking to my boss." He replied, "No, you are playing cards". At this point I was no longer inclined to be polite, "Who are you?" "I am ******" replied Mr. Jackass Smallunit. The name sounded a little familiar. He was some sort of big shot, but I didn't know his exact title. So I swallowed my pride a little and continued, "Well, I finished my day's work and I was talking to my boss and yeah I was idly clicking through a game." He persisted, "No, you are playing cards. This guy's talking to his friend on the phone, and this other guy is shopping for mobile phones. It's bad enough that you're playing cards, because of that these two are goofing off as well." "OK," I interrupted him, "It's not fair to anyone to blame their behavior on me." "Hmm," the Jackass nodded much like his namesake, "Give me your names on a piece of paper and give it to me", and walked off.
Oh boy, were the tempers in the group high at that point! None more than mine. How dare he question us on our work practices based on his tiny window of observation! I calmed down my team members, assured them that nothing would happen and gave him the list he asked for. Then I called up my boss and explained what happened. He simply said, "I'll take care of it". That was enough for me. Except, none of us could stop thinking about it and it kept bothering us for a while. One guy even said that he wouldn't have minded if he got fired on the spot, but for the Jackass to stand there and talk to us in that fashion was just very unprofessional. As of now, no one knows the end result of that incident but it's probably somewhere in the middle - no one's getting fired or even harshly reprimanded, but on the flip side, we won't be getting our apology either.
On this particular day, after a long day of work where I barely glanced away from my computer, I called up my boss who wasn't in town, and explained to him the status of the project. While I was talking to him, I had a game of FreeCell open and was idly clicking away at the cards. At this point I noticed a guy standing behind two members of my team. He had been looking at their computer screens for a while and then he was talking to them. I didn't pay much attention because I was on the phone. When I was done, he came over to my station and pointing at my screen, said, "What are you doing?" More than a little peeved, I replied, "I was talking to my boss." He replied, "No, you are playing cards". At this point I was no longer inclined to be polite, "Who are you?" "I am ******" replied Mr. Jackass Smallunit. The name sounded a little familiar. He was some sort of big shot, but I didn't know his exact title. So I swallowed my pride a little and continued, "Well, I finished my day's work and I was talking to my boss and yeah I was idly clicking through a game." He persisted, "No, you are playing cards. This guy's talking to his friend on the phone, and this other guy is shopping for mobile phones. It's bad enough that you're playing cards, because of that these two are goofing off as well." "OK," I interrupted him, "It's not fair to anyone to blame their behavior on me." "Hmm," the Jackass nodded much like his namesake, "Give me your names on a piece of paper and give it to me", and walked off.
Oh boy, were the tempers in the group high at that point! None more than mine. How dare he question us on our work practices based on his tiny window of observation! I calmed down my team members, assured them that nothing would happen and gave him the list he asked for. Then I called up my boss and explained what happened. He simply said, "I'll take care of it". That was enough for me. Except, none of us could stop thinking about it and it kept bothering us for a while. One guy even said that he wouldn't have minded if he got fired on the spot, but for the Jackass to stand there and talk to us in that fashion was just very unprofessional. As of now, no one knows the end result of that incident but it's probably somewhere in the middle - no one's getting fired or even harshly reprimanded, but on the flip side, we won't be getting our apology either.
Monday, November 2, 2009
The wordless transaction
A few days ago I went shopping for a cable for my mp3 player. While walking around the strip mall, I got to pull off something that had been stewing in my devious mind for a while - the wordless transaction.
Let me set the scene. It was around 7:15pm on Saturday of a SaSuMo weekend. The strip mall was lightly populated with customers. I was thirsty and saw a small restaurant. This was one of those joints that is big enough to merit a place in a strip mall like this but still dinky enough that its doors were open and it had no air-conditioning. These places usually have a glass-door refrigerator with cool drinks in them. I walked into the place, went to the fridge, pulled out a drink, walked up to the counter and placed it there. Then I pulled out a Rs. 50 note from my pocket and handed it to the cashier. He simply gave me Rs. 30 back. Not a word was exchanged. None of the - "Hello sir" "How may I help you?" "Will that be all sir?" that you're bound to get in, say, an American store.
I loved the whole process and I want to see how many more times I can do this while I'm here. Meanwhile, if any of you have ever had a wordless or, even better, a gestureless transaction, I'd love to hear of it.
Let me set the scene. It was around 7:15pm on Saturday of a SaSuMo weekend. The strip mall was lightly populated with customers. I was thirsty and saw a small restaurant. This was one of those joints that is big enough to merit a place in a strip mall like this but still dinky enough that its doors were open and it had no air-conditioning. These places usually have a glass-door refrigerator with cool drinks in them. I walked into the place, went to the fridge, pulled out a drink, walked up to the counter and placed it there. Then I pulled out a Rs. 50 note from my pocket and handed it to the cashier. He simply gave me Rs. 30 back. Not a word was exchanged. None of the - "Hello sir" "How may I help you?" "Will that be all sir?" that you're bound to get in, say, an American store.
I loved the whole process and I want to see how many more times I can do this while I'm here. Meanwhile, if any of you have ever had a wordless or, even better, a gestureless transaction, I'd love to hear of it.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Soup and "Singhara"
It's a three day weekend that got off to a horrible start thanks to three crazy girls and I don't mean "crazy" in any positive sense. Anyway, apparently my body decided to join the fun and I had myself a nice upset stomach by Sunday. So I decided to keep off the solid foods and just have soup instead.
The problem is that my #1 option for my regular meals around here had decided to switch to a "winter menu" and is therefore offering lots of hot soup for public consumption. And their idea of "lots of soup" is diluting their regular soup with water! Disgusting! The last time I went there I even offered to pay more for the good soup but they just denied that they were even diluting the soup in the first place. So now I was forced to try the #2 and #3 restaurants here. I walked into the first one and prepared myself for the weird look I knew I would get when I ordered just soup. The soup itself was horrible. It tasted too synthetic and I desperately had to resort to adding the ubiquitous ketchup to make it tolerable. After getting that into my stomach, I walked over to the other restaurant hoping they'd have a better soup. Unfortunately while this soup tasted a little less of chemicals, they had added some other junk to the soup and it wasn't any easier to swallow. This really sucks because now I have no options here for getting good tomato soup in this area.
This being a Sunday, I went to the weekly fruit bazaar nearby to see if they had any good fruit. (The last three weeks I bought fruit I flat out forgot to eat the fruits and they just rotted away.) My eyes fell on this one stall. This stall was selling what looked like small animals hearts. I had seen these once before and then I was so unsure of what these were that I didn't even ask the vendor what these were for fear of having it be something that would make me throw up. This time I decided to be a little braver. The guy told me they were called "Singhara" and quoted a price of Rs. 30 a kilo. That wasn't so bad, but I still had no idea what these were. He then told me a little more about these. Apparently they grow in water, and you can eat them after skinning them and eating what was inside or just eating them raw. He even gave me a sample to try. At this point another lady walked up and asked what the price was, he said Rs. 20 a kilo and sold them for Rs. 15. My eyes popped out of my head!! I'm all for the guy making a buck but here he was flat out trying to rob me. After the lady left I told the guy I refused to pay any more than she did and he reluctantly agreed. I bought Rs. 10 worth of the stuff and went home.
At home, after some googling I found that these were nothing other than Water Chestnuts. So that's a cool new discovery. Apparently these guys still stay crunchy after being boiled and I hope to try that out sometime soon.
The problem is that my #1 option for my regular meals around here had decided to switch to a "winter menu" and is therefore offering lots of hot soup for public consumption. And their idea of "lots of soup" is diluting their regular soup with water! Disgusting! The last time I went there I even offered to pay more for the good soup but they just denied that they were even diluting the soup in the first place. So now I was forced to try the #2 and #3 restaurants here. I walked into the first one and prepared myself for the weird look I knew I would get when I ordered just soup. The soup itself was horrible. It tasted too synthetic and I desperately had to resort to adding the ubiquitous ketchup to make it tolerable. After getting that into my stomach, I walked over to the other restaurant hoping they'd have a better soup. Unfortunately while this soup tasted a little less of chemicals, they had added some other junk to the soup and it wasn't any easier to swallow. This really sucks because now I have no options here for getting good tomato soup in this area.
This being a Sunday, I went to the weekly fruit bazaar nearby to see if they had any good fruit. (The last three weeks I bought fruit I flat out forgot to eat the fruits and they just rotted away.) My eyes fell on this one stall. This stall was selling what looked like small animals hearts. I had seen these once before and then I was so unsure of what these were that I didn't even ask the vendor what these were for fear of having it be something that would make me throw up. This time I decided to be a little braver. The guy told me they were called "Singhara" and quoted a price of Rs. 30 a kilo. That wasn't so bad, but I still had no idea what these were. He then told me a little more about these. Apparently they grow in water, and you can eat them after skinning them and eating what was inside or just eating them raw. He even gave me a sample to try. At this point another lady walked up and asked what the price was, he said Rs. 20 a kilo and sold them for Rs. 15. My eyes popped out of my head!! I'm all for the guy making a buck but here he was flat out trying to rob me. After the lady left I told the guy I refused to pay any more than she did and he reluctantly agreed. I bought Rs. 10 worth of the stuff and went home.
At home, after some googling I found that these were nothing other than Water Chestnuts. So that's a cool new discovery. Apparently these guys still stay crunchy after being boiled and I hope to try that out sometime soon.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
A hot streak
Gambling and, more importantly, winning while gambling, is a huge rush for me. I used to play poker and made myself stop because I couldn't trust myself to not keep buying in :) Once I was playing pool with a friend and was losing with close margins. Then he suggested we "make it interesting" and convinced me to wager on the next round and immediately I started winning.
Of course, I love betting on random trivial things and it's always sweet when I win. After coming here, here's a summary of the wagers I've made and their results -
1. Wagered that the Jet Li movie that had him in a dog collar was not called "Danny the dog" but was called "Unleashed" instead. Turned out it was called "Danny the dog" outside the US. I could have claimed that I wasn't wrong on this one but I still paid up. The bet was a pizza. I think I wrote about this in the blog earlier.
2. This guy at work was working hard on his abs, his aim was/is to get a six-pack. I wagered that he wouldn't even be able to get a "flat stomach" by Diwali and won a dinner at Barbeque Nation.
3. I'm training another guy on some stuff and I gave him "homework" over a weekend which he promised he would complete. So I asked him to bring either the homework or a Coke to work - he did.
4. There's a girl at work who's a graduate of some culinary institute and she was cooking some chicken at a friend's house. She said that marinating was primarily a process to tenderize the meat and I said that it was meant to add flavor to the meat. I won Rs. 50 there.
5. This one is a little too technical but I won two drinks from a guy about how a certain model we'd made works.
A couple of bets that didn't go all the way through -
1. While at the food court a local mall, one guy said that he would just stand up and dance in the middle of the food court for 5 mins if someone paid him Rs. 500. Another friend and I said that we would put up the money if he did it but if he chickened out halfway through, he'd have to pay us. He decided not to go through with the bet. (This had a strong similarity to "Kramer's bet with Jerry about finishing a project" and then not paying because he "could have done it, but decided not to".)
2. While at the mela recently, another guy said that he would pose in an obscene fashion with one of the props at the mela for one whole minute for Rs. 200 and a couple of times that we went to the mela we came close to shaking on the bet but stopped short each time.
The point is, somehow I've got the reputation at work of someone who wins all his wagers and now people have stopped betting with me. I don't think it'll last, but for now, I'm off the gambling high. For now.
Of course, I love betting on random trivial things and it's always sweet when I win. After coming here, here's a summary of the wagers I've made and their results -
1. Wagered that the Jet Li movie that had him in a dog collar was not called "Danny the dog" but was called "Unleashed" instead. Turned out it was called "Danny the dog" outside the US. I could have claimed that I wasn't wrong on this one but I still paid up. The bet was a pizza. I think I wrote about this in the blog earlier.
2. This guy at work was working hard on his abs, his aim was/is to get a six-pack. I wagered that he wouldn't even be able to get a "flat stomach" by Diwali and won a dinner at Barbeque Nation.
3. I'm training another guy on some stuff and I gave him "homework" over a weekend which he promised he would complete. So I asked him to bring either the homework or a Coke to work - he did.
4. There's a girl at work who's a graduate of some culinary institute and she was cooking some chicken at a friend's house. She said that marinating was primarily a process to tenderize the meat and I said that it was meant to add flavor to the meat. I won Rs. 50 there.
5. This one is a little too technical but I won two drinks from a guy about how a certain model we'd made works.
A couple of bets that didn't go all the way through -
1. While at the food court a local mall, one guy said that he would just stand up and dance in the middle of the food court for 5 mins if someone paid him Rs. 500. Another friend and I said that we would put up the money if he did it but if he chickened out halfway through, he'd have to pay us. He decided not to go through with the bet. (This had a strong similarity to "Kramer's bet with Jerry about finishing a project" and then not paying because he "could have done it, but decided not to".)
2. While at the mela recently, another guy said that he would pose in an obscene fashion with one of the props at the mela for one whole minute for Rs. 200 and a couple of times that we went to the mela we came close to shaking on the bet but stopped short each time.
The point is, somehow I've got the reputation at work of someone who wins all his wagers and now people have stopped betting with me. I don't think it'll last, but for now, I'm off the gambling high. For now.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Choke-worthy meeting
I'm a non-violent person but there are a few categories of people I could strangle with my bare hands and not feel too guilty later - govt. employees, Chennai auto drivers, inconsiderate movie watchers etc. Very close to the top of that list are people who offer to "introduce you to a new business that will make you money", in other words the pyramid schemers!
I thought I was done with this since I wasn't in the US, but turns out that the virus has spread to India too. I got a call from my "tiffin aunty", the lady who provides us lunch. At first she talked about the latest payment and then invited me to her place for a "small meeting" to discuss a "business idea". Anyone who's ever attended one meeting like this can instantly spot another sales pitch. But I went partly out of affection for this lady who's been cooking for us (I know she charges for the food but you just can't say no to someone who feeds you). I told them, truthfully, that I had to leave in an hour but I could spare an hour. At their house there was this guy who was introduced to me. Now, I've met a lot of salesmen and frankly, these Northies can't do half as good a sales pitch as the ones in the South. His attempts to "connect" with me were too obvious and of course, it didn't help him at all that I had my guard up for about 12 hours before I even came to the meeting. Well nothing much to report on the pitch itself, very standard - they talk about how awesome it would be to have money, how you can elevate your standard of living and then throw these spurious numbers at you. It was all very practiced, with a few American idioms thrown in. At various points I wanted to show him exactly why pyramid schemes don't work and or atleast just yell at him for wasting my time but I just smiled and waited my hour out before leaving.
What really bothers me is that I am sure this had ruined my relationship with the "tiffin aunty". I don't how she'll handle the rejection and I don't know if I would be comfortable ordering lunch boxes from her again. Just a stupid situation all around.
I thought I was done with this since I wasn't in the US, but turns out that the virus has spread to India too. I got a call from my "tiffin aunty", the lady who provides us lunch. At first she talked about the latest payment and then invited me to her place for a "small meeting" to discuss a "business idea". Anyone who's ever attended one meeting like this can instantly spot another sales pitch. But I went partly out of affection for this lady who's been cooking for us (I know she charges for the food but you just can't say no to someone who feeds you). I told them, truthfully, that I had to leave in an hour but I could spare an hour. At their house there was this guy who was introduced to me. Now, I've met a lot of salesmen and frankly, these Northies can't do half as good a sales pitch as the ones in the South. His attempts to "connect" with me were too obvious and of course, it didn't help him at all that I had my guard up for about 12 hours before I even came to the meeting. Well nothing much to report on the pitch itself, very standard - they talk about how awesome it would be to have money, how you can elevate your standard of living and then throw these spurious numbers at you. It was all very practiced, with a few American idioms thrown in. At various points I wanted to show him exactly why pyramid schemes don't work and or atleast just yell at him for wasting my time but I just smiled and waited my hour out before leaving.
What really bothers me is that I am sure this had ruined my relationship with the "tiffin aunty". I don't how she'll handle the rejection and I don't know if I would be comfortable ordering lunch boxes from her again. Just a stupid situation all around.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Rajdhani back to Delhi
It's a big cliche but train journeys really are interesting. You get thrown into a small space with these people and are forced to interact in one way or another with them. Unlike a flight where you just sit still for a few hours and if you're lucky, talk to the people sitting on either side of you, a train gives you the opportunity to "explore your space". Everyone walks around and you hear snippets of conversation. Kids scream and run around because they don't feel cramped and that can be a blessing or a curse - sometimes the kid is cute and you love chatting with the kid. Sometimes the kid is just annoying and won't stop screaming or shouting. (Guess which happened this time!) You get to see these characters and guess their histories, and sometimes, before you get off the train, you might even have your guess validated.
(To get off track for a bit, no pun intended, I remember a train journey back from when I was very young and it was just my mom with my brother and I. We were sitting across from another similar family - mother with two kids who were close to our ages. (I must have been somewhere between 6 and 8 years old.) I got friendly with the older boy and my mom got chatty with the other lady. I noticed she didn't have a bindi/bottu on her forehead. Naturally I assumed that she was widowed. This greatly bothered me and I'm sure I felt bad for her but at the same time I very curious to know if I was right or if she was just "modern" and didn't bother wearing a bindi/bottu! In retrospect it seems very silly and I'll be the first to admit that it was none of my business. But back then I didn't know better. I kept thinking of ways to casually bring up the topic of fathers and ask the boy about his father. Right around that time the train passed by a famous "temple on a hill" (I can't remember the name now). The boy turned to me and said, "You should do a namaste, it's your God after all". And then it hit me. They were Christians! That's why the lady wasn't wearing a bottu! Of course while that didn't quite rule out the other possibility, I was happy knowing that I was wrong and frankly quite relieved.)
Nothing that dramatic happened this time but I was within earshot of a conversation between a military man and a civilian. After the civilian found out that this man was/is in the military, he started asking him about China and if we (India) had the guts to take them on if it came to a full-blown war. The military man gave an answer that was midway between jingoistic and diplomatic. I also had to shush a lady who was talking loud enough for the entire compartment to hear during the afternoon nap time. (On a very un-PC note, this lady had an arm that was twice as fat as my thigh, and it was hypnotic watching that muscle-less bulk sway with the motion of the train.) I got to see an angry old man send back soup, seriously! This guy had decided that if he was spending this much money on a train journey he would get his money's worth from it, so he kept arguing with the stewards - about the bedsheets, water bottles, blankets, and food. Pretty much anything he could complain about, he did. While dropping me off at the station my mom remarked about how this train would be very comfortable for old folks. Little did I know that this train actually drew old people like moths to a flame and the old people would in turn be these grumpy chaps who were bent on making their prescence felt!
The food though was amazing. This time I knew I'd be getting fed right off the bat and I was. They kept bringing in all sorts of food - breakfast, desserts, main dishes - at the right times and were even kind enough to wake up the sleeping people at mealtimes!
My one big regret was that I had planned on having access to a power source for my laptop which I was counting on to entertain me. I got a side lower seat which is just terrific in terms of having an isolated location with no disturbance from the other passengers, but had no power outlets. So I had to rely on my books and the newspapers. I did get to steal a few hours in someone else's berth while he was away but it wasn't very satisfying. The next time I get on this train, I think I have a foolproof plan to get a seat with a power outlet, let's see.
(To get off track for a bit, no pun intended, I remember a train journey back from when I was very young and it was just my mom with my brother and I. We were sitting across from another similar family - mother with two kids who were close to our ages. (I must have been somewhere between 6 and 8 years old.) I got friendly with the older boy and my mom got chatty with the other lady. I noticed she didn't have a bindi/bottu on her forehead. Naturally I assumed that she was widowed. This greatly bothered me and I'm sure I felt bad for her but at the same time I very curious to know if I was right or if she was just "modern" and didn't bother wearing a bindi/bottu! In retrospect it seems very silly and I'll be the first to admit that it was none of my business. But back then I didn't know better. I kept thinking of ways to casually bring up the topic of fathers and ask the boy about his father. Right around that time the train passed by a famous "temple on a hill" (I can't remember the name now). The boy turned to me and said, "You should do a namaste, it's your God after all". And then it hit me. They were Christians! That's why the lady wasn't wearing a bottu! Of course while that didn't quite rule out the other possibility, I was happy knowing that I was wrong and frankly quite relieved.)
Nothing that dramatic happened this time but I was within earshot of a conversation between a military man and a civilian. After the civilian found out that this man was/is in the military, he started asking him about China and if we (India) had the guts to take them on if it came to a full-blown war. The military man gave an answer that was midway between jingoistic and diplomatic. I also had to shush a lady who was talking loud enough for the entire compartment to hear during the afternoon nap time. (On a very un-PC note, this lady had an arm that was twice as fat as my thigh, and it was hypnotic watching that muscle-less bulk sway with the motion of the train.) I got to see an angry old man send back soup, seriously! This guy had decided that if he was spending this much money on a train journey he would get his money's worth from it, so he kept arguing with the stewards - about the bedsheets, water bottles, blankets, and food. Pretty much anything he could complain about, he did. While dropping me off at the station my mom remarked about how this train would be very comfortable for old folks. Little did I know that this train actually drew old people like moths to a flame and the old people would in turn be these grumpy chaps who were bent on making their prescence felt!
The food though was amazing. This time I knew I'd be getting fed right off the bat and I was. They kept bringing in all sorts of food - breakfast, desserts, main dishes - at the right times and were even kind enough to wake up the sleeping people at mealtimes!
My one big regret was that I had planned on having access to a power source for my laptop which I was counting on to entertain me. I got a side lower seat which is just terrific in terms of having an isolated location with no disturbance from the other passengers, but had no power outlets. So I had to rely on my books and the newspapers. I did get to steal a few hours in someone else's berth while he was away but it wasn't very satisfying. The next time I get on this train, I think I have a foolproof plan to get a seat with a power outlet, let's see.
Friday, October 16, 2009
"Please remove all metallic items you may be carrying - keys, loose change...holy s***!!!"
After Palika Bazaar, I got into my cab and reached the airport. At the airport, while checking in my luggage, I saw a sign at the counter that said that while a set of items was allowed in check-in, it would be better if they were declared ahead of time. Remember the gun-shaped butane lighter I purchased for Rs. 400? I didn't to have any trouble because of that and I told the girl at the counter in very clear terms that I had a "gun-shaped lighter" in my luggage. She simply said, "No problem." I told her again, "Are you sure it's not a problem?" At this point she turned to the porter that puts the luggage on the conveyor belt and asked him what he thought and even he said that it wouldn't be a problem. So I didn't think much of it at that point.
I got my security check done and I was typing up some emails when about 15 mins later I heard my name being called over the PA system! At first I was embarrassed and it took me a second to realize that no one there knew who I was. So I packed up and went to the gate I was paged to. There the agent from the airline took me aside and in a low voice asked me, "Sir, are you carrying a weapon in your luggage?" I was half-amused and half-angry. I explain that it wasn't a weapon, just a lighter. He asked me if I declared this during check-in. I explained to him in no uncertain terms that I did. Then he took me all the way back to the baggage check area, canceling my boarding pass on the way.
Once we got there another four agents joined us. Evidently this was as exciting as things had been all day. One of them was from Hyderabad! He asked me if I spoke the language and then proceeded to tell me again that this item was prohibited. I explained to him what I explained to the others. They believed me of course but then they told me that lighters were in fact not allowed in check-in baggage. I think they just made up that rule on the spot but I didn't want to argue too much. They said that they'd have to discharge my lighter and I let them. After being satisfied with the rest of the contents of my baggage, they assured me that neither I nor my bag would miss the flight. The first agent then personally got me a new boarding pass, accompanied me through a sort of express security check and walked me all the way to my gate.
Along the way I asked him if guns were allowed. Turns out guns are alright if you had the right documents to go with the guns (but fake guns like mine aren't!). What about VIPs and their entourages, I asked. Apparently VIPs don't even enter the airport lounges to being with, they are ushered directly to the flight through a separate gate. Very informative and all that. I couldn't be too mad at the airline either but I was hoping they'd upgrade me to first class to make up for the "inconvenience" they put me through, but I just couldn't get myself to ask for it.
I got my security check done and I was typing up some emails when about 15 mins later I heard my name being called over the PA system! At first I was embarrassed and it took me a second to realize that no one there knew who I was. So I packed up and went to the gate I was paged to. There the agent from the airline took me aside and in a low voice asked me, "Sir, are you carrying a weapon in your luggage?" I was half-amused and half-angry. I explain that it wasn't a weapon, just a lighter. He asked me if I declared this during check-in. I explained to him in no uncertain terms that I did. Then he took me all the way back to the baggage check area, canceling my boarding pass on the way.
Once we got there another four agents joined us. Evidently this was as exciting as things had been all day. One of them was from Hyderabad! He asked me if I spoke the language and then proceeded to tell me again that this item was prohibited. I explained to him what I explained to the others. They believed me of course but then they told me that lighters were in fact not allowed in check-in baggage. I think they just made up that rule on the spot but I didn't want to argue too much. They said that they'd have to discharge my lighter and I let them. After being satisfied with the rest of the contents of my baggage, they assured me that neither I nor my bag would miss the flight. The first agent then personally got me a new boarding pass, accompanied me through a sort of express security check and walked me all the way to my gate.
Along the way I asked him if guns were allowed. Turns out guns are alright if you had the right documents to go with the guns (but fake guns like mine aren't!). What about VIPs and their entourages, I asked. Apparently VIPs don't even enter the airport lounges to being with, they are ushered directly to the flight through a separate gate. Very informative and all that. I couldn't be too mad at the airline either but I was hoping they'd upgrade me to first class to make up for the "inconvenience" they put me through, but I just couldn't get myself to ask for it.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Delhi: The Palika Bazaar
In Delhi, I had a few hours to kill so I decided to go to Palika Bazaar. I love that place, it's a great shopping complex. Completely underground. Also as it turned out, great bargains for those smart enough to bargain.
I walked around in a daze for a little while, stunned by the crowd and the variety of stores. The hottest stuff seemed to be "Chinese Mobiles" - good mobiles dumped from China. The various stores in the complex also sell clothes, other electronics, CDs/DVDs, handicrafts, and some books, snacks etc. As I was walking by one of the stores this one guy sidled up to me and said in a low voice, "Sir, would you like to buy some triple-X DVDs? Good quality sir". I was surprised but not too shocked. I said I didn't want any and walked away. After that point, atleast five other guys at various locations asked me if I wanted to buy porn! I had to ask myself what I looked like to these people that they felt I was the porn-buying type. Then again, maybe "porn-buying type" is just synonymous with "guy".
I don't think this applies to all of Palika Bazaar but at atleast a couple of stores, I had trouble moving around people. Now, normally if I am walking in a crowded corridor and I end up right in front of another person, and if the other person doesn't give me way, I just walk around that person. Even if the person is being a jackass and deliberately not giving me way, I wouldn't be too bothered. (After my *ahem* incident a few months ago, I've been very gun-shy, so to speak.) But when I'm trying to leave a store, and the other person is standing the doorway, facing me, but not giving me way, I find that very puzzling. The two times this happened there, the guy wasn't trying to pick a fight or something - he was just standing there, looking at something even as I walked up to him and was standing a couple of inches from his face. The first time after waiting for a couple of seconds, I put both my hands on him and very gently pushed him to get his attention. The guy just stepped back like he didn't even realize I was there! The next time the same thing happened I didn't even hesitate to push the guy to the side as I was leaving. It's kinda weird, almost like they describe it in the movie "Crash" - that people are so lonely that they'll do anything for some human contact, even crashing!
At this one store I saw a gun, which I knew was a butane lighter. Now I've always been fascinated by toy guns. Real guns scare me but I always enjoy playing with toy guns. So I couldn't resist this. I figured I'd just buy one and gift it to someone. I asked about the price of a small one and the guy said, "Rs. 900". I felt that it was way above my budget, particularly if I was giving it away to someone else. I told the shopkeeper I wasn't interested and started walking away. He kept pushing talking about the finish of the piece etc. I told him that indeed it was a very beautiful piece and probably even worth the price tag but it was way above my budget. How much were you planning to spend, he asked me. Not more than Rs. 400. OK, it's yours. I was shocked! Just like that? And later in Hyd when I started telling my dad this story and came to the point where he quoted Rs. 900, my dad immediately said that I should have asked him for Rs. 150. I felt like a fool for thinking I had bargained him down from Rs. 900 when instead I had probably paid Rs. 200 more than it was worth. Oh well, it still is a cool item and it got me material for my next post!
I walked around in a daze for a little while, stunned by the crowd and the variety of stores. The hottest stuff seemed to be "Chinese Mobiles" - good mobiles dumped from China. The various stores in the complex also sell clothes, other electronics, CDs/DVDs, handicrafts, and some books, snacks etc. As I was walking by one of the stores this one guy sidled up to me and said in a low voice, "Sir, would you like to buy some triple-X DVDs? Good quality sir". I was surprised but not too shocked. I said I didn't want any and walked away. After that point, atleast five other guys at various locations asked me if I wanted to buy porn! I had to ask myself what I looked like to these people that they felt I was the porn-buying type. Then again, maybe "porn-buying type" is just synonymous with "guy".
I don't think this applies to all of Palika Bazaar but at atleast a couple of stores, I had trouble moving around people. Now, normally if I am walking in a crowded corridor and I end up right in front of another person, and if the other person doesn't give me way, I just walk around that person. Even if the person is being a jackass and deliberately not giving me way, I wouldn't be too bothered. (After my *ahem* incident a few months ago, I've been very gun-shy, so to speak.) But when I'm trying to leave a store, and the other person is standing the doorway, facing me, but not giving me way, I find that very puzzling. The two times this happened there, the guy wasn't trying to pick a fight or something - he was just standing there, looking at something even as I walked up to him and was standing a couple of inches from his face. The first time after waiting for a couple of seconds, I put both my hands on him and very gently pushed him to get his attention. The guy just stepped back like he didn't even realize I was there! The next time the same thing happened I didn't even hesitate to push the guy to the side as I was leaving. It's kinda weird, almost like they describe it in the movie "Crash" - that people are so lonely that they'll do anything for some human contact, even crashing!
At this one store I saw a gun, which I knew was a butane lighter. Now I've always been fascinated by toy guns. Real guns scare me but I always enjoy playing with toy guns. So I couldn't resist this. I figured I'd just buy one and gift it to someone. I asked about the price of a small one and the guy said, "Rs. 900". I felt that it was way above my budget, particularly if I was giving it away to someone else. I told the shopkeeper I wasn't interested and started walking away. He kept pushing talking about the finish of the piece etc. I told him that indeed it was a very beautiful piece and probably even worth the price tag but it was way above my budget. How much were you planning to spend, he asked me. Not more than Rs. 400. OK, it's yours. I was shocked! Just like that? And later in Hyd when I started telling my dad this story and came to the point where he quoted Rs. 900, my dad immediately said that I should have asked him for Rs. 150. I felt like a fool for thinking I had bargained him down from Rs. 900 when instead I had probably paid Rs. 200 more than it was worth. Oh well, it still is a cool item and it got me material for my next post!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Shatabdi to Delhi
I am making a trip to Hyderabad to surprise my parents for Deepawali. I'll also be stopping in Delhi on the way to take care of some business, so I took off from Chandigarh on the 6:15pm Shatabdi to Delhi. Now I am not very familiar with the trains in India. My usage of them even when I lived here was limited to the Chennai/Charminar express trains that took me to Chennai and back, and the Godavari that took us to Vizag every summer. I'd be hard pressed to name a fourth train from among the largest train network in the world! Add Shatabdi to that list now.
All I knew about this train was that it was quite a fast train going from C'garh to Delhi in about 3.5 hours, as compared to the 5 hours that a bus takes and 6 hours that a regular train takes. Since the journey is very short and not overnight, almost all trains on this route are "chair cars" as opposed to "sleepers". I also knew that this train was fully air-conditioned. At C'garh it arrived and departed barely 10 mins late. I had asked for and got a window seat when I booked my seats on the Indian Railways website, but since the journey started almost at sunset, I didn't have much of a view.
Almost as soon as it took off from C'garh, a bunch of uniformed IR workers started serving snacks. I thought I'd have to pay for them or atleast have ordered them in advance. Turned out neither was the case. The food service was part of the ticket price! So for Rs. 505 I was not only being taken from C'garh to Delhi in a nice, clean a/c train, I was being fed as well. And darn it all if they didn't keep bringing the food almost the entire length of the trip! The food included -
1. A snack plate with a sanwich, a samosa with ketchup, "saunpapdi", mango juice and some hard candy.
2. Tomato Soup with breadsticks (unfortunately they served the breadsticks first and I thought that was all I was getting and I ate them up before the soup showed up!)
3. Dinner plate with rice, roti, dal, panneer curry and a small salad.
4. Ice Cream.
I have no idea why anyone would travel by flight from C'garh to Delhi seeing as this train is available. Taking into account the flight check in times etc, this train compares very well with the flight and it costs a fraction of what the flight does. Best of all you don't have to put up with the snooty flight attendents and the redundant security and then pay for the water and peanuts they serve you on the flight. I've always had a lot of respect for the way Indian Railways runs its business (outside of Bihar) but this confirmed it. Indian Railways, you rock!
All I knew about this train was that it was quite a fast train going from C'garh to Delhi in about 3.5 hours, as compared to the 5 hours that a bus takes and 6 hours that a regular train takes. Since the journey is very short and not overnight, almost all trains on this route are "chair cars" as opposed to "sleepers". I also knew that this train was fully air-conditioned. At C'garh it arrived and departed barely 10 mins late. I had asked for and got a window seat when I booked my seats on the Indian Railways website, but since the journey started almost at sunset, I didn't have much of a view.
Almost as soon as it took off from C'garh, a bunch of uniformed IR workers started serving snacks. I thought I'd have to pay for them or atleast have ordered them in advance. Turned out neither was the case. The food service was part of the ticket price! So for Rs. 505 I was not only being taken from C'garh to Delhi in a nice, clean a/c train, I was being fed as well. And darn it all if they didn't keep bringing the food almost the entire length of the trip! The food included -
1. A snack plate with a sanwich, a samosa with ketchup, "saunpapdi", mango juice and some hard candy.
2. Tomato Soup with breadsticks (unfortunately they served the breadsticks first and I thought that was all I was getting and I ate them up before the soup showed up!)
3. Dinner plate with rice, roti, dal, panneer curry and a small salad.
4. Ice Cream.
I have no idea why anyone would travel by flight from C'garh to Delhi seeing as this train is available. Taking into account the flight check in times etc, this train compares very well with the flight and it costs a fraction of what the flight does. Best of all you don't have to put up with the snooty flight attendents and the redundant security and then pay for the water and peanuts they serve you on the flight. I've always had a lot of respect for the way Indian Railways runs its business (outside of Bihar) but this confirmed it. Indian Railways, you rock!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The Grinch who stole Navratri (from me)
After missing out on Garba for almost two years I finally managed to get to one all the way in Chandigarh. I saw an ad in the paper and got super excited. I even tried to invite all the folks at work but no one seemed interested. That's just sad. But luckily one guy in my team is Gujrati and he has a bike as well, so we went. It look us a long time to find the place and even when we did, it was a total fluke that led us to the place. No matter, we were there and I was very excited about attending my first garba in about two years.
The crowd wasn't too big but sufficiently big enough that there were good-sized circles. What I hadn't counted on was that the garba/raas I was used to in the US is (probably) a bastardized version of the original dance they do in Gujarat. So when I joined the raas circle, I faltered. In the US, this wouldn't have been a big deal, the line would compensate. But here, a big fat Gujju lady looked at me like I was dirt! I gave an apologetic grin and continued. The next partner was younger and he just continued without a problem. The one after that was Mr. Grinch himself. The Gujju Nazi! He saw me falter and almost threw me out of the line with his hands! He said, in Hindi, "If you don't know how to dance, you shouldn't join the line". Before I could say "I am learning" he very rudely gestured to me with his dandiya sticks to get out of the line. It was humiliating. It really ruined the whole evening for me and we ended up leaving almost immediately.
There were a few Punjabis I saw at the beginning of the evening. Loud boisterous types who were as always having fun. They were doing their own Bhangra thing and it annoyed me a lot. The biggest irony was that I dislike Bhangra a lot - it's too much freestyle in the way it's done by everyone. And I was sitting there smug thinking to myself that I knew how to do the Garba and so I was better. Boy was it humbling! I came away feeling a lot more love for Bhangra and its forgiving nature due to the very freestyle I hated till then!
The crowd wasn't too big but sufficiently big enough that there were good-sized circles. What I hadn't counted on was that the garba/raas I was used to in the US is (probably) a bastardized version of the original dance they do in Gujarat. So when I joined the raas circle, I faltered. In the US, this wouldn't have been a big deal, the line would compensate. But here, a big fat Gujju lady looked at me like I was dirt! I gave an apologetic grin and continued. The next partner was younger and he just continued without a problem. The one after that was Mr. Grinch himself. The Gujju Nazi! He saw me falter and almost threw me out of the line with his hands! He said, in Hindi, "If you don't know how to dance, you shouldn't join the line". Before I could say "I am learning" he very rudely gestured to me with his dandiya sticks to get out of the line. It was humiliating. It really ruined the whole evening for me and we ended up leaving almost immediately.
There were a few Punjabis I saw at the beginning of the evening. Loud boisterous types who were as always having fun. They were doing their own Bhangra thing and it annoyed me a lot. The biggest irony was that I dislike Bhangra a lot - it's too much freestyle in the way it's done by everyone. And I was sitting there smug thinking to myself that I knew how to do the Garba and so I was better. Boy was it humbling! I came away feeling a lot more love for Bhangra and its forgiving nature due to the very freestyle I hated till then!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Working around it
One big change that's being enforced in the cities is the ban on child labor. You cannot hire kids anymore - for lifting bricks, for cleaning your cars or even for household chores. The police, I guess got a lot of pressure from the government which in turn must be responding to pressure from activist groups. This has led to a huge shortage of labor. Housewives like my mother struggled to find a good maid to help around the house and poaching the maids is now becoming an issue. As of now, we're lucky that my mom has a good reliable person helping around the house.
Our office is another story. The staff here includes some people to clean the floors and some to hand out cups of coffee/tea a few times a day. This one guy in particular looked no older than 12. I was shocked that the office was hiring him and exposing itself to big trouble from the cops. So I asked him one day how old he was. He said he was 21. I was surprised because he didn't look that old. He said that he was married and even had a kid. Oh well, I thought, maybe he just looks young. Then in our new office we met another guy who was definitely no older than 12. This one smiled when he tried to tell us that he was 18. And that's when I heard the full story from a colleague here. These boys are sent to the cities for work. Especially in nice offices like ours where the pay is good. They're told to tell everyone that they're 18 or older and they probably even have fake birth certificates to show that.
Now I'm not one of those that is entirely opposed to Child Labor, so I am not entirely outraged at this. But I was amused at this neat little work around. Sort of the opposite of "But officer, she said she was 18...."
Our office is another story. The staff here includes some people to clean the floors and some to hand out cups of coffee/tea a few times a day. This one guy in particular looked no older than 12. I was shocked that the office was hiring him and exposing itself to big trouble from the cops. So I asked him one day how old he was. He said he was 21. I was surprised because he didn't look that old. He said that he was married and even had a kid. Oh well, I thought, maybe he just looks young. Then in our new office we met another guy who was definitely no older than 12. This one smiled when he tried to tell us that he was 18. And that's when I heard the full story from a colleague here. These boys are sent to the cities for work. Especially in nice offices like ours where the pay is good. They're told to tell everyone that they're 18 or older and they probably even have fake birth certificates to show that.
Now I'm not one of those that is entirely opposed to Child Labor, so I am not entirely outraged at this. But I was amused at this neat little work around. Sort of the opposite of "But officer, she said she was 18...."
Thursday, September 24, 2009
A (not so) shocking incident at work
My manager got fired today. No, that's not a euphemism or something, he really did get fired. I am of course very satisfied with the result but I must admit, I wasn't too thrilled about the way it went down.
As I've mentioned before, I have the lowest of opinions about this guy. He is technically incompetent, has horrible interpersonal skills and is a very bad manager. He was very petty when it came to dealings with people. He was very sneaky and dishonest in trying to show himself as better than he is to his superiors, to the extent that he was actively dishonest in plagiarizing reports and presenting them as his own work. It was terrible. In the morning it came up that he had sent an inaccurate report which was full of holes. He got a public tongue lashing from the boss. And then an hour or so later he was called to the HR. When he came back he looked like he'd been crying. He shook our hands and said he was leaving. Almost everyone was in shock at that announcement.
Even I felt sorry for the guy at one point. It seemed a bit too harsh the way the HR dept handled this. It was like cutting someone and leave them to bleed to death. He was given no time to digest the news, his login was locked even as he was being dismissed and he pretty much had to just pick up his stuff and leave. That evening he came over to the apt of one of the guys for a small farewell dinner. Even there he was in complete denial about the reasons for his dismissal. He kept talking about how it was a conspiracy against him, something about being fired because the company wanted to keep a higher earning person on the payroll (that one didn't even make sense). I came very close to giving him a piece of my mind but decided not to do so at the last minute.
Almost everyone in the office was happy he left. He'd made so many enemies by his immature behavior during his stay here that it wasn't surprising. For better or for worse, the big news about his departure was drowned in the buzz of shifting of our office to a brand new office building in a very posh office complex the very next day.
As I've mentioned before, I have the lowest of opinions about this guy. He is technically incompetent, has horrible interpersonal skills and is a very bad manager. He was very petty when it came to dealings with people. He was very sneaky and dishonest in trying to show himself as better than he is to his superiors, to the extent that he was actively dishonest in plagiarizing reports and presenting them as his own work. It was terrible. In the morning it came up that he had sent an inaccurate report which was full of holes. He got a public tongue lashing from the boss. And then an hour or so later he was called to the HR. When he came back he looked like he'd been crying. He shook our hands and said he was leaving. Almost everyone was in shock at that announcement.
Even I felt sorry for the guy at one point. It seemed a bit too harsh the way the HR dept handled this. It was like cutting someone and leave them to bleed to death. He was given no time to digest the news, his login was locked even as he was being dismissed and he pretty much had to just pick up his stuff and leave. That evening he came over to the apt of one of the guys for a small farewell dinner. Even there he was in complete denial about the reasons for his dismissal. He kept talking about how it was a conspiracy against him, something about being fired because the company wanted to keep a higher earning person on the payroll (that one didn't even make sense). I came very close to giving him a piece of my mind but decided not to do so at the last minute.
Almost everyone in the office was happy he left. He'd made so many enemies by his immature behavior during his stay here that it wasn't surprising. For better or for worse, the big news about his departure was drowned in the buzz of shifting of our office to a brand new office building in a very posh office complex the very next day.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Chair Soccer
We are moving to a new office building so the facilities in this office are dying. We had internet outage for almost the entire day and that stopped all work because we access the work programs over the internet. We spent parts of it running some errands but got bored soon. That's when the game of "Chair Soccer" or "Chair Football" was born. Basically we have really nice chairs at work that have excellent bearings on all the moving parts. You can sit in it and with one push can spin around for 5 rotations! Similarly if you sit in it and push yourself off, the chair rolls all the way to the end of the long conference room we work in. So we decided to pick up some random plastic item and kick it around without getting off the chairs. You move around the room by propelling the chair with your feet and you shouldn't use your hands at all. We marked the goals and kicked it off.
In about 15 minutes we were sweating a lot (inspite of the hall being air conditioned) but we kept playing for an hour atleast. And that my friends is how we pass time here when there's no boss and no internet!
In about 15 minutes we were sweating a lot (inspite of the hall being air conditioned) but we kept playing for an hour atleast. And that my friends is how we pass time here when there's no boss and no internet!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
A man date
I went on a date last night and I'm pretty sure I was the girl. I got asked out by this guy to a bar. I got picked up by him. He laughed excessively at everything I said and after he dropped me off he said he'd call me later.
Now, to be fair to everyone, I should mention that it was probably more of a man date. But the dynamics of the whole thing were very similar to a guy persistently asking out a girl. Maybe it's because I've been watching "How I Met Your Mother" but I immediately thought about the episode where the guys head out to a gay bar and after the initial thrill of being hit on, find it very annoying after they keep getting hit on.
It's my realtor, the guy who helped me find my current apt. I used to see him once a month to pay the rent and he's not a weird guy. It's just that he and I have very little in common. But a few months after I moved to this city he started calling to see if I wanted to hang out. First it was for post-dinner walks. Later he got to asking me if I wanted to visit some neighboring cities. I'm pretty sure he was just bored and wanted a dude to hang out with. (Either that or my gaydar is just totally non-existent.) I tried to ignore his calls for a while and tried to make it up to him by visiting him in his office but I couldn't keep doing that. So finally I just decided to call him and let him know that I was up for checking out the Navratri mela nearby. I figured this was a safe neutral location with lots of things to do and no place for awkward conversations.
He said he's be ready to go at 8pm. And then at 8pm he called and switched the plan to hang out at a bar. I was pissed because, not only did I not want to drink, a one-on-one at a bar was exactly the type of social situation I was trying to avoid and he had successfully outwitted me! It was quite bad. He didn't have his own vehicle and so we took an auto, except that he misjudged the frequency of the vehicles and I had to walk quite a bit before getting into one. On the way back, we had to walk all the way back home. The bar was full of smokers. And the icing on the cake was the phone call from another friend.
This friend from work called me when I was there and I told him where I was. "Oh you should have let me know, I would have joined." I wanted to let him know that this evening was quite lame because of the company I had and said (in English), "Oh you wouldn't have fun here. I'll explain later." I knew that the guy sitting in front of me spoke English but I assumed that he wouldn't be able to understand much or just wouldn't be listening in on the conversation. Boy, was I wrong! "Something wrong with this place, you don't like it? You're not having fun?" he asked me as soon as I got off the phone. Thank God for my improv skills - I quickly made up some excuse about how my other friend wasn't a drinker and that non-drinkers are lame and that they would bum the rest of us "cool drinking people" etc, and I just kept talking and changed the subject to my IIT days and then to my life in the US. I just kept talking till he bought it. Atleast I think he bought it.
When I did a post-game of this evening with my friends later, they suggested that I might have to go on another "date" with this guy to convince him that I wasn't bored. Seriously, is this how annoying it is for girls who get pursed by guys?
Now, to be fair to everyone, I should mention that it was probably more of a man date. But the dynamics of the whole thing were very similar to a guy persistently asking out a girl. Maybe it's because I've been watching "How I Met Your Mother" but I immediately thought about the episode where the guys head out to a gay bar and after the initial thrill of being hit on, find it very annoying after they keep getting hit on.
It's my realtor, the guy who helped me find my current apt. I used to see him once a month to pay the rent and he's not a weird guy. It's just that he and I have very little in common. But a few months after I moved to this city he started calling to see if I wanted to hang out. First it was for post-dinner walks. Later he got to asking me if I wanted to visit some neighboring cities. I'm pretty sure he was just bored and wanted a dude to hang out with. (Either that or my gaydar is just totally non-existent.) I tried to ignore his calls for a while and tried to make it up to him by visiting him in his office but I couldn't keep doing that. So finally I just decided to call him and let him know that I was up for checking out the Navratri mela nearby. I figured this was a safe neutral location with lots of things to do and no place for awkward conversations.
He said he's be ready to go at 8pm. And then at 8pm he called and switched the plan to hang out at a bar. I was pissed because, not only did I not want to drink, a one-on-one at a bar was exactly the type of social situation I was trying to avoid and he had successfully outwitted me! It was quite bad. He didn't have his own vehicle and so we took an auto, except that he misjudged the frequency of the vehicles and I had to walk quite a bit before getting into one. On the way back, we had to walk all the way back home. The bar was full of smokers. And the icing on the cake was the phone call from another friend.
This friend from work called me when I was there and I told him where I was. "Oh you should have let me know, I would have joined." I wanted to let him know that this evening was quite lame because of the company I had and said (in English), "Oh you wouldn't have fun here. I'll explain later." I knew that the guy sitting in front of me spoke English but I assumed that he wouldn't be able to understand much or just wouldn't be listening in on the conversation. Boy, was I wrong! "Something wrong with this place, you don't like it? You're not having fun?" he asked me as soon as I got off the phone. Thank God for my improv skills - I quickly made up some excuse about how my other friend wasn't a drinker and that non-drinkers are lame and that they would bum the rest of us "cool drinking people" etc, and I just kept talking and changed the subject to my IIT days and then to my life in the US. I just kept talking till he bought it. Atleast I think he bought it.
When I did a post-game of this evening with my friends later, they suggested that I might have to go on another "date" with this guy to convince him that I wasn't bored. Seriously, is this how annoying it is for girls who get pursed by guys?
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Mauritius: A long lost, French-speaking India
Imagine you get on a plane and see a bunch of Indians. Then you see some of them wearing saris, with bangles and bottus (bindis). You'd think it's a good bet that when they speak to each other, they'd speak in Hindi or some other Indian language. But when they start speaking, it's in French! This is what is called cognitive dissonance. And this was the feeling we had during our entire trip to Mauritius.
Mauritius has an old relationship with Indians. Back in the 1800's the British Empire took a bunch of Indians (along with Chinese) to the island to try out what they called "Indentured Labor". Basically these people were entered into labor agreements voluntarily - this was proposed as an alternative to slavery to show that there was a way to get cheap labor without coercion, and in a way which would lead to exchange of culture and harmony. It was such a huge success that the idea is still in practice all over the world. What this also meant was that the island was now full of people of Indian origin!
Historically Mauritius was ruled by the Dutch, then the French, then the English before finally getting independence. Of these, the French had arguably the most influence as the people speak mostly in French, even though the official language is English. One of the guides we met said that at the time of independence, Bhojpuri was actually the most widely spoken language on the island. I can believe that.
By and large the people were very friendly, as you would expect in an island nation. The biggest crop is sugarcane, but one of the biggest contributors to the economy is tourism. Like I said, they are all Indian-looking people but they don't identify with India. Things you would hear from recent immigrants to the US like "Oh you're from India, so am I." would never be heard there. Most people look at India as a place that their ancestors had something to do with, but for the most part they don't know anything about it. Their cuisine is mostly continental. The Indian food that they do cook is mostly stripped of all spices and even salt. In the hotel we stayed in, when we got served Indian food, we started adding salt without even tasting it because we knew they wouldn't add salt.
The people there speak of religion and language interchangeably. Apparently when their ancestors first came here, they stayed with people of their own community - Hindi, Tamil, Telugu etc. So later when they started growing wealthier and building temples, they built their own temples. So when you ask someone there what his religion is, he'll reply, "I'm Telugu"! It took a little time to understand what they meant.
The entire island itself is quite small - 790 sq miles. The road signs read "North" and "South"! And being in the Southern Hemisphere, they have their winter when we have summer. So I can see why people from India prefer to visit there in the summer. More on our experiences next.
Mauritius has an old relationship with Indians. Back in the 1800's the British Empire took a bunch of Indians (along with Chinese) to the island to try out what they called "Indentured Labor". Basically these people were entered into labor agreements voluntarily - this was proposed as an alternative to slavery to show that there was a way to get cheap labor without coercion, and in a way which would lead to exchange of culture and harmony. It was such a huge success that the idea is still in practice all over the world. What this also meant was that the island was now full of people of Indian origin!
Historically Mauritius was ruled by the Dutch, then the French, then the English before finally getting independence. Of these, the French had arguably the most influence as the people speak mostly in French, even though the official language is English. One of the guides we met said that at the time of independence, Bhojpuri was actually the most widely spoken language on the island. I can believe that.
By and large the people were very friendly, as you would expect in an island nation. The biggest crop is sugarcane, but one of the biggest contributors to the economy is tourism. Like I said, they are all Indian-looking people but they don't identify with India. Things you would hear from recent immigrants to the US like "Oh you're from India, so am I." would never be heard there. Most people look at India as a place that their ancestors had something to do with, but for the most part they don't know anything about it. Their cuisine is mostly continental. The Indian food that they do cook is mostly stripped of all spices and even salt. In the hotel we stayed in, when we got served Indian food, we started adding salt without even tasting it because we knew they wouldn't add salt.
The people there speak of religion and language interchangeably. Apparently when their ancestors first came here, they stayed with people of their own community - Hindi, Tamil, Telugu etc. So later when they started growing wealthier and building temples, they built their own temples. So when you ask someone there what his religion is, he'll reply, "I'm Telugu"! It took a little time to understand what they meant.
The entire island itself is quite small - 790 sq miles. The road signs read "North" and "South"! And being in the Southern Hemisphere, they have their winter when we have summer. So I can see why people from India prefer to visit there in the summer. More on our experiences next.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Mom will stay at home
This post is a bit out of place for this blog but not too much so.
A few months ago, when I visited Hyderabad to see my parents, I had a big discussion with my father. The topic was - how much freedom should he give mom in terms of traveling etc. Dad was of the opinion that since mom has been relatively sheltered all her life, he wouldn't feel comfortable letting her go and do stuff by herself. I was trying to make the case that mom would never learn to do things herself if she remained sheltered. So I gave him a hypothetical. I told him that should mom come and stay with me in the US at some point in the future, I would let her roam the neighborhood as much as she wanted at the risk of her getting lost. Dad was aghast that I would do that.
That was a few months ago. Now I read this story.
http://nymag.com/news/features/59009/
Now, I'm not so sure anymore. Now, mom's English is much better than this Nepali woman's and she's been in the US for a month or so and she has an idea of the sizes of the cities involved etc. But even so, if I let her go walking, I think I'd give her a traceable iPhone or something.
A few months ago, when I visited Hyderabad to see my parents, I had a big discussion with my father. The topic was - how much freedom should he give mom in terms of traveling etc. Dad was of the opinion that since mom has been relatively sheltered all her life, he wouldn't feel comfortable letting her go and do stuff by herself. I was trying to make the case that mom would never learn to do things herself if she remained sheltered. So I gave him a hypothetical. I told him that should mom come and stay with me in the US at some point in the future, I would let her roam the neighborhood as much as she wanted at the risk of her getting lost. Dad was aghast that I would do that.
That was a few months ago. Now I read this story.
http://nymag.com/news/features/59009/
Now, I'm not so sure anymore. Now, mom's English is much better than this Nepali woman's and she's been in the US for a month or so and she has an idea of the sizes of the cities involved etc. But even so, if I let her go walking, I think I'd give her a traceable iPhone or something.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
The Virgin Goddess residing on the mountain - Part 2 (darshan and the aftermath)
Now, to give you an idea of how good our overall timing was, consider that statistically (based on stats from the temple's website) September is the third best month to visit the temple. You don't have as many visitors then. Normally after you get your token, you can expect to spend upto 3-4 hours waiting for your group to be called and then maybe another couple of hours in the queue. We walked upto the guard even as group #197 was being shown through and showed our #198 ticket, he just let us in without comment. Now, the security in this place is really tight. Our bags were x-rayed twice and physically examined (item by item) twice during the climb, and then once more at the top of the hill. Further, for the actual darshan, you aren't allowed to take in any "artificial" items. This means no wallets, belts, watches, cooling glasses or combs. Bags, cameras, mobiles and slippers are out of question anyway. Even after stripping down to just your shirt/pant and some cash to offer the goddess, you're frisked twice in this line! They are taking absolutely no chances here.
The darshan happened very quickly. The goddess herself is deep in a cave. And she is represented as "pindis" representing the female Hindu Trinity. We got out in 15 mins. After that we visited the temple of Bairon Nath, which is a further climb of 2 kms away but we did this part on horses. And in another case of good timing, we reached there at a great part of the day, just before sunset. We got to shoot plenty of pictures (and if only I could have cleared out there area of tourists I could have shot better pictures!)
We started the climb down at 7pm. Now, we thought it wouldn't be a cake walk but atleast it wouldn't be too hard. But walking down is easier from an effort point of view, but the impact is high if you don't watch yourself. Soon we were all showing the effects of having climbed up and down a mountain. We even thought of just giving in and taking the horses but we kept going. Finally we made it to the base at midnight and climbed into bed in our hotel an hour after that.
Our feet were sore and our legs were tired as hell. We took a few painkillers, massaged our feet as much as possible with an ointment and passed out. A good night's sleep would have cured us, except the third guy, the very same one who couldn't sleep in the bus earlier, woke up really early on Sunday and decided to wake us up too. He shook us awake by telling us that it was 10am instead of 8am that it was. I could have killed him them and after the bout of sickness I suffered in the aftermath of the trip from the reduced sleep, I think I could have killed him again. But at that point I tried to be as polite as possible and explained that there was no way we could do any sightseeing seeing as we could barely walk. So we stayed in the hotel room till noon and went to Jammu. In Jammu once we got our tickets back to C'garh, we just tried to kill time. One place we visited was the "worst temple in the world". The other was the park "Bagh-e-Bahu". Each place we went to we were "oh"ing and "ouch"ing in pain. Somehow we made it till 9pm, got into our buses and passed out till we reached Chandigarh!
The darshan happened very quickly. The goddess herself is deep in a cave. And she is represented as "pindis" representing the female Hindu Trinity. We got out in 15 mins. After that we visited the temple of Bairon Nath, which is a further climb of 2 kms away but we did this part on horses. And in another case of good timing, we reached there at a great part of the day, just before sunset. We got to shoot plenty of pictures (and if only I could have cleared out there area of tourists I could have shot better pictures!)
We started the climb down at 7pm. Now, we thought it wouldn't be a cake walk but atleast it wouldn't be too hard. But walking down is easier from an effort point of view, but the impact is high if you don't watch yourself. Soon we were all showing the effects of having climbed up and down a mountain. We even thought of just giving in and taking the horses but we kept going. Finally we made it to the base at midnight and climbed into bed in our hotel an hour after that.
Our feet were sore and our legs were tired as hell. We took a few painkillers, massaged our feet as much as possible with an ointment and passed out. A good night's sleep would have cured us, except the third guy, the very same one who couldn't sleep in the bus earlier, woke up really early on Sunday and decided to wake us up too. He shook us awake by telling us that it was 10am instead of 8am that it was. I could have killed him them and after the bout of sickness I suffered in the aftermath of the trip from the reduced sleep, I think I could have killed him again. But at that point I tried to be as polite as possible and explained that there was no way we could do any sightseeing seeing as we could barely walk. So we stayed in the hotel room till noon and went to Jammu. In Jammu once we got our tickets back to C'garh, we just tried to kill time. One place we visited was the "worst temple in the world". The other was the park "Bagh-e-Bahu". Each place we went to we were "oh"ing and "ouch"ing in pain. Somehow we made it till 9pm, got into our buses and passed out till we reached Chandigarh!
The Virgin Goddess residing on the mountain - Part 1 (the climb)
One day at work I randomly asked my colleague if he would be interested in checking out the Vaishno Devi Temple in the state of J&K. He immediately said "Yes". That's how quickly the plan to make that trip happened. In fact, the legend of the temple is that you don't plan to go there at your leisure. The goddess calls you to come visit her and you're drawn to the temple. The way this trip came together certainly gives more evidence for that belief.
The temple is on top of a hill 5200 ft in elevation. The road to the top is about 12.5 kms long. There are only four ways to reach the top - walking, on a horse, being carried in a "paalki" or in a helicopter. Walking is free of course! The rest have government fixed prices. There are two schools of thought on climbing up - you either climb in the daytime or in the night. Nightime has the advantage of lower temperatures, but you climb all night long and it'll throw off your sleep schedule. The daytime trip of course means that the entire trip falls into a logical pattern during the weekend with the added plus that almost all the eateries on the way are open. We chose the day walk but we should have starter walking earlier in the day. (We reached Jammu at 5am and Katra, the base of the hill, at 6:30am. By the time we picked a hotel, got ready in it and reached the base of the mountain it was 9:30am.) The day didn't get too hot but because we were late in climbing up, we had to hurry while climbing down.
We carried light bags with us - change of clothing and jackets if necessary. The climb started off easy enough but the third guy in our group slept poorly on the bus earlier and he had to constantly sit and recharge his batteries. I was fine with the hike but I would have preferred a slightly faster pace. At the midway point we had a choice between a slightly longer path which took us to a minor temple of interest on the way, or skip it and choose the shorter path (6.5 kms vs. 5.5 kms). In our tired condition we chose the shorter path which was a brilliant choice in hindsight. All along the way we kept rehydrating ourselves as much as possible. We stopped for lunch at one of the many eateries on the way and had vada-sambar. (Why I couldn't find decent vada-sambar in Chandigarh/Punjab/Haryana but suddenly found great-tasting sambar all way in J&K I'll never understand!) We were getting more and more tired but while we took breaks almost every 0.3 kms in the beginning, we didn't stop even once in the last 2 kms. We were almost running in the end and finally we made it, 6 hours after starting the climb.
The mini-city on top was well-laid out, very linear. We got our token for the darshan (in exchange for the registration ticket that we had obtained at about 6:30am when we reached Katra) and that gave us slot #198 and #196 was going in then - not too shabby. So we went to take some quick showers and change before the darshan. In the public showers there, the cold water was very refreshing. I didn't bring an extra shirt so I wasn't too keen on showering but I did want to freshen up with the cold water. However once I got there, there was a gentleman urinating in the shower (and looking at me, daring me to say something to him). That was just too disgusting - I mean, I understand that as a nation we have the freedom to urinate everywhere written in the constitution, but this is a temple dammit! I just quickly threw some water on my face and went out. The other two had finished their showers and we were ready for the darshan.
The temple is on top of a hill 5200 ft in elevation. The road to the top is about 12.5 kms long. There are only four ways to reach the top - walking, on a horse, being carried in a "paalki" or in a helicopter. Walking is free of course! The rest have government fixed prices. There are two schools of thought on climbing up - you either climb in the daytime or in the night. Nightime has the advantage of lower temperatures, but you climb all night long and it'll throw off your sleep schedule. The daytime trip of course means that the entire trip falls into a logical pattern during the weekend with the added plus that almost all the eateries on the way are open. We chose the day walk but we should have starter walking earlier in the day. (We reached Jammu at 5am and Katra, the base of the hill, at 6:30am. By the time we picked a hotel, got ready in it and reached the base of the mountain it was 9:30am.) The day didn't get too hot but because we were late in climbing up, we had to hurry while climbing down.
We carried light bags with us - change of clothing and jackets if necessary. The climb started off easy enough but the third guy in our group slept poorly on the bus earlier and he had to constantly sit and recharge his batteries. I was fine with the hike but I would have preferred a slightly faster pace. At the midway point we had a choice between a slightly longer path which took us to a minor temple of interest on the way, or skip it and choose the shorter path (6.5 kms vs. 5.5 kms). In our tired condition we chose the shorter path which was a brilliant choice in hindsight. All along the way we kept rehydrating ourselves as much as possible. We stopped for lunch at one of the many eateries on the way and had vada-sambar. (Why I couldn't find decent vada-sambar in Chandigarh/Punjab/Haryana but suddenly found great-tasting sambar all way in J&K I'll never understand!) We were getting more and more tired but while we took breaks almost every 0.3 kms in the beginning, we didn't stop even once in the last 2 kms. We were almost running in the end and finally we made it, 6 hours after starting the climb.
The mini-city on top was well-laid out, very linear. We got our token for the darshan (in exchange for the registration ticket that we had obtained at about 6:30am when we reached Katra) and that gave us slot #198 and #196 was going in then - not too shabby. So we went to take some quick showers and change before the darshan. In the public showers there, the cold water was very refreshing. I didn't bring an extra shirt so I wasn't too keen on showering but I did want to freshen up with the cold water. However once I got there, there was a gentleman urinating in the shower (and looking at me, daring me to say something to him). That was just too disgusting - I mean, I understand that as a nation we have the freedom to urinate everywhere written in the constitution, but this is a temple dammit! I just quickly threw some water on my face and went out. The other two had finished their showers and we were ready for the darshan.
Monday, September 7, 2009
The worst temple in the world
There are probably millions of temples, big and small, in this world. I've visited maybe a couple of hundred of them. I don't really even think about a lot of them. Nothing wrong with them, they're just unremarkable. Then I visit temples like the Raghunath temple in Jammu and it just makes me want to vomit.
After our trip to Vaishno Devi mandir, we wanted to check out the city of Jammu before we left the state. Our first stop was the Raghunath Temple. This is a big temple complex, that's the largest in N. India. First the good. This is a really big temple that at the very least amused me with its vast collection of idols. This is a Rama temple, and in addition to the "Rama family" the temple complex had mini temples for Shiva, Durga, Hanuman, Brahma etc. And then they had small statues of pretty much everyone from the Hindu epics. Rishi, minor deities, gods of the directions, weapons of gods even! Valmiki, Jamadagni, Chakraji, Gadhaji, Garuda - I can keep going. In fact, the big Shiva lingam they had close to the entrance was made of glass or some transparent stone. It was very beautiful.
And then it got ugly pretty fast. The pujari in the Shiva temple called me to come closer, did an instant "archana" in my name, then used a Rs. 100 note to show me that the lingam was transparent and then used the Rs. 100 note to point at certain parts of the room and then, to complete the "gentle hints" he'd been giving me, said, "Just donate whatever amount you feel is appropriate." He was probably used to dealing with gullible innocent people or just idiots. I just put a Rs. 10 note in his plate and even that was for the archana. My friends didn't do that either.
Then we went to the main Rama temple. Here there was a small line and I saw the big pujari talk to everyone as I was walking toward him. He had the same technique and spiel, "Come here son (or daughter), there's Ramji, now donate an amount you feel is appropriate. No, donate Rs. 50 atleast. This is for charity." If had more energy I would have punched him!
As we left the Ram mandir, we were immediately surrounded by a bunch of hawkers. Atleast, they were behaving like hawkers, shouting at us asking us to walk in their direction. I didn't realize till a few seconds later that these were pujaris of the "smaller" gods. They were just short of actually grabbing our arms or even just taking the money out of our pockets. I was so disgusted I just stopped entering the mini temples and just sat in the courtyard.
I guess the good news is that Tirupati is no longer the temple in India that I like the least. It's corrupt but atleast you aren't pressured into paying any money you don't want to. And then compare this to my all time favorite Chilkur which doesn't even have a hundi! Where the pujaris expressly forbid you to pay any money to the temple. Or even the Ganesh temple next to the Sec-bad station. Where the pujaris just take all the money that's put in the harati plate and throw it into the hundi without even looking at it. Something so comforting about that.
After our trip to Vaishno Devi mandir, we wanted to check out the city of Jammu before we left the state. Our first stop was the Raghunath Temple. This is a big temple complex, that's the largest in N. India. First the good. This is a really big temple that at the very least amused me with its vast collection of idols. This is a Rama temple, and in addition to the "Rama family" the temple complex had mini temples for Shiva, Durga, Hanuman, Brahma etc. And then they had small statues of pretty much everyone from the Hindu epics. Rishi, minor deities, gods of the directions, weapons of gods even! Valmiki, Jamadagni, Chakraji, Gadhaji, Garuda - I can keep going. In fact, the big Shiva lingam they had close to the entrance was made of glass or some transparent stone. It was very beautiful.
And then it got ugly pretty fast. The pujari in the Shiva temple called me to come closer, did an instant "archana" in my name, then used a Rs. 100 note to show me that the lingam was transparent and then used the Rs. 100 note to point at certain parts of the room and then, to complete the "gentle hints" he'd been giving me, said, "Just donate whatever amount you feel is appropriate." He was probably used to dealing with gullible innocent people or just idiots. I just put a Rs. 10 note in his plate and even that was for the archana. My friends didn't do that either.
Then we went to the main Rama temple. Here there was a small line and I saw the big pujari talk to everyone as I was walking toward him. He had the same technique and spiel, "Come here son (or daughter), there's Ramji, now donate an amount you feel is appropriate. No, donate Rs. 50 atleast. This is for charity." If had more energy I would have punched him!
As we left the Ram mandir, we were immediately surrounded by a bunch of hawkers. Atleast, they were behaving like hawkers, shouting at us asking us to walk in their direction. I didn't realize till a few seconds later that these were pujaris of the "smaller" gods. They were just short of actually grabbing our arms or even just taking the money out of our pockets. I was so disgusted I just stopped entering the mini temples and just sat in the courtyard.
I guess the good news is that Tirupati is no longer the temple in India that I like the least. It's corrupt but atleast you aren't pressured into paying any money you don't want to. And then compare this to my all time favorite Chilkur which doesn't even have a hundi! Where the pujaris expressly forbid you to pay any money to the temple. Or even the Ganesh temple next to the Sec-bad station. Where the pujaris just take all the money that's put in the harati plate and throw it into the hundi without even looking at it. Something so comforting about that.
What an year it's been
Today marks the one year anniversary of my stay in India. As you can tell from the other posts, this has been a heck of a year. Here's to hoping this will be the last anniversary of this event I will be celebrating.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
"Does he have a favorite liquor?"
At lunch in my office. A colleague was talking about living with her 2-year-old daughter in her joint family. Then she started talking about weeping babies and someone mentioned gripe water, and a misheard word here and there, and I ended up joking, "Well watch out, your kid's going to be walking around with a bottle of alcohol before you know it." She replied, "Oh she does that already." "Good one," I replied.
Turned out, she wasn't kidding! She went on to tell us how her kid has been sipping the adults' drinks in their house almost from the age she could walk. And then a few days ago, the kid was sitting on her potty trainer and she was constipated. She called out to her grandfather, "Grandpa, get me the bitter juice it'll help me poop better." Apparently the adults used to try to dissuade her from drinking alcoholic drinks by telling her it was a bitter juice. But the kid got over the bitter taste and now drinks from time to time.
I was shocked on a bunch of different levels. The kid had somehow linked up alcohol with a cure for constipation, which meant that at the very least she's had enough experience with alcohol and bowel her own movements! Further, the mother was telling us about this stuff like it was a joke. Now, technically it's probably not harmful for babies to sip alcohol, I don't know. But it's disturbing to hear that all the same.
Turned out, she wasn't kidding! She went on to tell us how her kid has been sipping the adults' drinks in their house almost from the age she could walk. And then a few days ago, the kid was sitting on her potty trainer and she was constipated. She called out to her grandfather, "Grandpa, get me the bitter juice it'll help me poop better." Apparently the adults used to try to dissuade her from drinking alcoholic drinks by telling her it was a bitter juice. But the kid got over the bitter taste and now drinks from time to time.
I was shocked on a bunch of different levels. The kid had somehow linked up alcohol with a cure for constipation, which meant that at the very least she's had enough experience with alcohol and bowel her own movements! Further, the mother was telling us about this stuff like it was a joke. Now, technically it's probably not harmful for babies to sip alcohol, I don't know. But it's disturbing to hear that all the same.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Ethics at my workplace
A fascinating thing happened at work today. We were working on a project where we were trying to demonstrate that our team was better at a certain analysis than another agency. The deliverable was the completed report. We had the other agency's report in our hands and our goal was to deliver a better analysis and a better report. This particular day I was wrapping up a sub-report that I had to do. Before putting the finishing touches I went up to my manager and asked him some follow up questions - like who else is working on this, who's doing what etc. Over the course of the discussion it came out that he would be creating a master report and then incorporate the work of a couple of us guys into that.
"That's acceptable. When do you think you'll be submitting this master report?"
"In a couple of hours of course, as soon as you two finish your work."
"What? That's impossible! Not counting the work we'll be submitting to you, there are another 200 pages or so that need to be written."
"Well yeah. I'll just be copy-pasting those segments from the other agency's report"
I was stunned at this. Not only was this supremely unethical, I was personally pissed off that to show himself off as a good manager, he was trying to deliver a report much faster than normal. I then ended up trying to explain to him why this was wrong. Basically his argument was - the other agency submitted this work to our company, and so it's the company's property now. We work for the company and we're using company property to create stuff. What's wrong with that? I tried explaining that by that logic if I worked for JK Rowling's publishers I could just rip off her cover page, call that manuscript "Harry Potter and the goblet of wine" and call it my own new book! He looked at me for a second like, "Yeah, you can do that, can't you?"
I went nuts at this and I almost started laughing and shouting at him. If this was a junior I'd have called him names by this point. Finally I told him that he could do whatever he wanted. He then agreed to have a discussion about the project with his superiors and then redefine it. But it wasn't because he was convinced, it was more like a "I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree."
In the end, I'm more than a little worried. I desperately want to talk to his superior and let him know that he's pulling this type of nonsense. But I don't know if I want to ruffle too many feathers yet.
"That's acceptable. When do you think you'll be submitting this master report?"
"In a couple of hours of course, as soon as you two finish your work."
"What? That's impossible! Not counting the work we'll be submitting to you, there are another 200 pages or so that need to be written."
"Well yeah. I'll just be copy-pasting those segments from the other agency's report"
I was stunned at this. Not only was this supremely unethical, I was personally pissed off that to show himself off as a good manager, he was trying to deliver a report much faster than normal. I then ended up trying to explain to him why this was wrong. Basically his argument was - the other agency submitted this work to our company, and so it's the company's property now. We work for the company and we're using company property to create stuff. What's wrong with that? I tried explaining that by that logic if I worked for JK Rowling's publishers I could just rip off her cover page, call that manuscript "Harry Potter and the goblet of wine" and call it my own new book! He looked at me for a second like, "Yeah, you can do that, can't you?"
I went nuts at this and I almost started laughing and shouting at him. If this was a junior I'd have called him names by this point. Finally I told him that he could do whatever he wanted. He then agreed to have a discussion about the project with his superiors and then redefine it. But it wasn't because he was convinced, it was more like a "I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree."
In the end, I'm more than a little worried. I desperately want to talk to his superior and let him know that he's pulling this type of nonsense. But I don't know if I want to ruffle too many feathers yet.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Fingerprint me, please.
On one hand, I can understand that there are very few document a person is comfortable signing on that he didn't create himself. Even if I wanted you to sign on a piece of paper that says that it's warm, you'd hesitate to do that even if your shirt was soaked from sweating. It must be even harder if you're in the government. But I never imagined that it would be this hard to get a police officer to sign on a piece of paper that says, "Yes, I attest that the guy who claims he's so-and-so is indeed the one giving his fingerprints in front of me."
I imagine the word "fingerprints" makes anyone nervous. But still, I was willing to explain that the police didn't need to attest to my (lack of a) police record, but it took a lot of running around and a fair bit of luck to make it happen.
(Some day I'll mention why I needed the fingerprints in the first place and why this was actually an easier thing to do than the alternative.)
So the story starts in Hyderabad where after a lot of name dropping and influence peddling, I was able to meet a special officer from a crime branch. "I really don't have a problem signing that paper" he says, "It's just that we're not authorized to do this. I don't even have a rubber stamp. Try your local police station." OK, so we approach a police station. "What the hell do you mean 'it's a small job'? Would you just hire anyone off the street into your company because I say it's a 'small job'? (What???) Do you think I have nothing better to do than attest fingerprints? We don't do this type of things here." And so on went off the station officer at the other police station. I really felt like punching him, or pulling his teeth out with a pair of rusty pliers for his attitude, but turned out that basically these station officers were stripped of a lot of authority recently and this particular officer was just taking out his frustration on me. (I still do hope bad stuff happens to him, but atleast I understood why he was being a jackass.) At this point I was very frustrated and dejected and at a super low. But I also had a feeling that things would happen much faster in Panchkula.
Did I say Panchkula was the worst place I've ever lived in? Really? I don't know what possessed me to do that. Well, the people here might be barely civilized but I'll give the government officials 10/10 for their behavior, atleast compared to the ones in my home state.
Here I started off with the court house which directed me to a police station in the city. Here the station head was very polite. He pointed out that this was a very unusual request (which I agreed with) but he made a call and directed me to another police station. At this second police station, the group of well-meaning but poorly educated and not very worldly officers were again reluctant to sign on any type of paper, in spite of the other station head's directives. They asked me to get back to the court house and get it done there. "Look man, you're not listening to me. We can't just take your fingerprints on a piece of paper, this has to be done officially. (I tried telling him that it wasn't necessary to do this officially.) No, no, listen. Go to the court house, there's a guy there who's an expert on taking fingerprints. He'll do a good job for you." At that moment I was cursing the guy in every language I knew (in my head) for being such a coward about attesting something and passing the buck. As it turned out, he turned out be fantastically right in his assessment of the situation.
So I went to the court house for the second time that day and was now directed to the office of the superintendent of police (SP). OK, I am not scared of big police officers. I walked right up to his office. There I met his subordinate who talked to me for 30 mins before letting me see the SP. Nothing evil, he was just trying to ascertain if I had some mischief in my mind. He asked me my salary, about my job. Then went on to talk about jobs in general, experience etc. Finally I was ushered into meet the SP. I explained why I needed the prints (which btw, gentle reader, I haven't explained to you yet, but that'll have to wait). He also mentioned that this was an unusual request but put his signature on a piece of paper which was all I needed.
After that things moved relatively quicker. I took that paper and went to the court house for the third time that day. Here they added more signatures and rubber stamps and sent me to the so called fingerprint expert. If you're by this point imagining something like the Keymaker from the Matrix sequels, you're right. This was a kindly old gentleman who sat "under the stairs" with this small desk and small fan. (Again, very much a character out of R. K. Narayan's novels.) He took my fingerprints with the methodical efficiency of a man who has spent his life doing only one thing, but doing it so well that he made a career out of it.
He rolled some ink onto a metal plate. Then he took each of my fingers one-by-one, rolled them on the inked metal plate, and then rolled them on a form that was created just for that purpose. Then he took a set of prints without rolling my fingers. It was just so thorough. He asked me how many copies I needed and while I knew that I should get a spare copy just in case, I felt awkward asking him and said that I just wanted one. "Why don't I just make two for you?" Wow!!! This was the best guy ever! So I told him to kindly make me a spare and he repeated the process happily.
Now it was time for payment. At this point I want to remind you that while I had to make up many lies in Hyderabad in order to even talk to the officers, I hadn't lied about anything in my Panchkula dealings. I didn't even have to bribe anyone. But now I felt my honest streak was up and I would have to grease his palm a little. He said that the fee was Rs. 500 which he actually said at the court house. Even though he made no sign of giving me a receipt, I took solace in knowing that even if this was a bribe, it would be shared by his colleagues in the court house. Then he said, "Let's go have some juice." This I assumed was were the real payment would happen. Like maybe me paying Rs. 500 for a glass of orange juice, or atleast buying this guy some expensive juice or cigarettes or something. (It never occured to me even wonder if "juice" meant something else.) He ordered two flavored milk bottles and then two "sweets". I didn't even want to eat the sweet, I just wanted to pay the vendor and leave but he insisted I have a sweet. So I ate sweet, and drank the flavored milk. (I was wondering what someone who was lactose-intolerant, or just someone who hated milk would have done here.) I got a phone call right then and when I was done with the call, I found out the clerk had paid the vendor! I was just shocked. "Sorry sir, I should have paid the guy, after all you did something for me" I stammered. "No, no, this wasn't a big deal. I was just doing my duty. Bye." He left me feeling more than a little respect for the public servants in Panchkula, and after I managed to pick up my jaw from the floor, I ran as fast I could back to work.
I imagine the word "fingerprints" makes anyone nervous. But still, I was willing to explain that the police didn't need to attest to my (lack of a) police record, but it took a lot of running around and a fair bit of luck to make it happen.
(Some day I'll mention why I needed the fingerprints in the first place and why this was actually an easier thing to do than the alternative.)
So the story starts in Hyderabad where after a lot of name dropping and influence peddling, I was able to meet a special officer from a crime branch. "I really don't have a problem signing that paper" he says, "It's just that we're not authorized to do this. I don't even have a rubber stamp. Try your local police station." OK, so we approach a police station. "What the hell do you mean 'it's a small job'? Would you just hire anyone off the street into your company because I say it's a 'small job'? (What???) Do you think I have nothing better to do than attest fingerprints? We don't do this type of things here." And so on went off the station officer at the other police station. I really felt like punching him, or pulling his teeth out with a pair of rusty pliers for his attitude, but turned out that basically these station officers were stripped of a lot of authority recently and this particular officer was just taking out his frustration on me. (I still do hope bad stuff happens to him, but atleast I understood why he was being a jackass.) At this point I was very frustrated and dejected and at a super low. But I also had a feeling that things would happen much faster in Panchkula.
Did I say Panchkula was the worst place I've ever lived in? Really? I don't know what possessed me to do that. Well, the people here might be barely civilized but I'll give the government officials 10/10 for their behavior, atleast compared to the ones in my home state.
Here I started off with the court house which directed me to a police station in the city. Here the station head was very polite. He pointed out that this was a very unusual request (which I agreed with) but he made a call and directed me to another police station. At this second police station, the group of well-meaning but poorly educated and not very worldly officers were again reluctant to sign on any type of paper, in spite of the other station head's directives. They asked me to get back to the court house and get it done there. "Look man, you're not listening to me. We can't just take your fingerprints on a piece of paper, this has to be done officially. (I tried telling him that it wasn't necessary to do this officially.) No, no, listen. Go to the court house, there's a guy there who's an expert on taking fingerprints. He'll do a good job for you." At that moment I was cursing the guy in every language I knew (in my head) for being such a coward about attesting something and passing the buck. As it turned out, he turned out be fantastically right in his assessment of the situation.
So I went to the court house for the second time that day and was now directed to the office of the superintendent of police (SP). OK, I am not scared of big police officers. I walked right up to his office. There I met his subordinate who talked to me for 30 mins before letting me see the SP. Nothing evil, he was just trying to ascertain if I had some mischief in my mind. He asked me my salary, about my job. Then went on to talk about jobs in general, experience etc. Finally I was ushered into meet the SP. I explained why I needed the prints (which btw, gentle reader, I haven't explained to you yet, but that'll have to wait). He also mentioned that this was an unusual request but put his signature on a piece of paper which was all I needed.
After that things moved relatively quicker. I took that paper and went to the court house for the third time that day. Here they added more signatures and rubber stamps and sent me to the so called fingerprint expert. If you're by this point imagining something like the Keymaker from the Matrix sequels, you're right. This was a kindly old gentleman who sat "under the stairs" with this small desk and small fan. (Again, very much a character out of R. K. Narayan's novels.) He took my fingerprints with the methodical efficiency of a man who has spent his life doing only one thing, but doing it so well that he made a career out of it.
He rolled some ink onto a metal plate. Then he took each of my fingers one-by-one, rolled them on the inked metal plate, and then rolled them on a form that was created just for that purpose. Then he took a set of prints without rolling my fingers. It was just so thorough. He asked me how many copies I needed and while I knew that I should get a spare copy just in case, I felt awkward asking him and said that I just wanted one. "Why don't I just make two for you?" Wow!!! This was the best guy ever! So I told him to kindly make me a spare and he repeated the process happily.
Now it was time for payment. At this point I want to remind you that while I had to make up many lies in Hyderabad in order to even talk to the officers, I hadn't lied about anything in my Panchkula dealings. I didn't even have to bribe anyone. But now I felt my honest streak was up and I would have to grease his palm a little. He said that the fee was Rs. 500 which he actually said at the court house. Even though he made no sign of giving me a receipt, I took solace in knowing that even if this was a bribe, it would be shared by his colleagues in the court house. Then he said, "Let's go have some juice." This I assumed was were the real payment would happen. Like maybe me paying Rs. 500 for a glass of orange juice, or atleast buying this guy some expensive juice or cigarettes or something. (It never occured to me even wonder if "juice" meant something else.) He ordered two flavored milk bottles and then two "sweets". I didn't even want to eat the sweet, I just wanted to pay the vendor and leave but he insisted I have a sweet. So I ate sweet, and drank the flavored milk. (I was wondering what someone who was lactose-intolerant, or just someone who hated milk would have done here.) I got a phone call right then and when I was done with the call, I found out the clerk had paid the vendor! I was just shocked. "Sorry sir, I should have paid the guy, after all you did something for me" I stammered. "No, no, this wasn't a big deal. I was just doing my duty. Bye." He left me feeling more than a little respect for the public servants in Panchkula, and after I managed to pick up my jaw from the floor, I ran as fast I could back to work.
An awesome wedding
It was a heck of a trip. I still remember on an hour-to-hour basis exactly what I did for about 10 straight days because they were so tightly scheduled. It was a nice wedding though. There are a few things that need mentioning -
- All of my cousins showed up. It was the first meeting of all of us cousins from my mom's side. I thought we met when the youngest of the cousins was born but that wasn't quite true. Now, after about 15 years after the youngest was born, we met, eight of us. From my dad's side too almost all of my cousins showed up. Only one went missing and that was because she was 9 months pregnant. I was very thrilled to see them all, some of whom I hadn't met for about 10 years.
- Representing all chapters. This one was even more thrilling. I had friends representing all chapters of my life show up. I had a classmate from my school (1st class - 10th class), two friends from my Inter days (2 years), one from my IIT days (four years), one from my early MS days in the US (3 years), one from the later PhD days (6 years) and one from my job in Pune. (One in particular flew all the way from the US just for the wedding!) Among relatively minor "phases", I also had a rep from my HSC days. I could say that the only chapters of my life not represented there were the pre-school days and my current Chandigarh folks.
- Slept in a different bed 9 out of 10 days in a row. The sequence of beds I slept in starting from the night of the 7th is as follows - home, wedding hall, home, her uncle's place, train, different train, home, home, Delhi, Mauritius. BTW, "sleep" is loosely defined here. On none of those nights did I have a full night's sleep, with three of those nights going for less than three hours of sleep.
- Relatively uneventful. It's not so much that things didn't go wrong, it was that a lot of mishaps were "self-goals" - like stupid things the groom's side did that affected the groom's side. So there was very little scope for complaining, which is usually worse than the mishap itself.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
I'm waiting, in an airport
Right now, I'm standing at an internet kiosk in the Delhi airport, waiting to board a flight to Mauritius. The flight was delayed for technical reasons first by 100 mins and then by another hour, and as of now we're expected to leave about fours hours later than scheduled. We can only hope that's the right time of departure.
Earlier, I was at a different kiosk with a super crappy keyboard that for some reason had keys mapped to odd spots. I couldn't find certain buttons and had to keep pressing all of them to figure out what key I was pressing. Then there was this creepy dude who was standing right by me and looking at my screen over my shoulder. At first I looked at him pointedly and he pretended to look away. A couple of mins later he was still looking at my screen and I asked him if he would like to move closer to read other peoples' emails. That got him away for a few mins.
The airline offered us free breakfast, then free coffee. I think if this keeps up they'll have to arrange for free lunch. That is if the airline representative doesn't get lynched first by one of the many many irate honeymooning couples. It gladdens my heart to know that a lot of other marriages are off to a tepid start.
Friday, July 31, 2009
And here we go
I'm leaving Chandigarh to go to Hyderabad for my wedding. That event has been a loooong time coming and I'm glad it's here. I'll be taking a brief hiatus on the blog but doesn't mean I'm closing it down. I'll be back with hopefully some fun incidents from the wedding.
Meanwhile, here's a list I made - The top 10 things the Joker says that are applicable to my wedding.
10. Here's my card.
9. Well, hello, beautiful.
8. I believe whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you... stranger.
7. What would I do without you? No, no, NO! No. You... you... complete me.
6. But I know the truth: there's no going back. You've changed things... forever.
5. Oh, and by the way, the suit, it wasn't cheap. You oughta know, you bought it.
4. Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it.
3. Let's put a smile on that face!
2. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight's entertainment!
1. And... here… we... go!
Meanwhile, here's a list I made - The top 10 things the Joker says that are applicable to my wedding.
10. Here's my card.
9. Well, hello, beautiful.
8. I believe whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you... stranger.
7. What would I do without you? No, no, NO! No. You... you... complete me.
6. But I know the truth: there's no going back. You've changed things... forever.
5. Oh, and by the way, the suit, it wasn't cheap. You oughta know, you bought it.
4. Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it.
3. Let's put a smile on that face!
2. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight's entertainment!
1. And... here… we... go!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Things that would get you fired in the US
Since both the companies I've been working with for this past year in India are MNCs based out of Houston, I don't get the full feel of working in India. There's always the awareness of US time zones, the constant communication with the US offices and dependence on them for progress in the work here. What I'm also aware of is the behavior of the people in the company. It's one thing for the Indians here to behave "foolishly", to say un-PC things and act in an unprofessional manner. I'm quite amazed when the foreigners (not just the Americans, but some Europeans and Australians as well) do and say things that I'm sure are contrary to the work environment in those countries.
The head of one of the divisions here is a Scottish man, about 50 years old. The office here is in the process of hiring a new HR manager and the current HR was chatting with me about the process. She gave a half-smile while remarking that we'd have more female blood in the office so all the males should feel happy (it was as if millions of feminist voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced!) While her remark itself would have gotten her into trouble in the US, the following was even more disturbing. I asked her why she was so sure that the next HR manager would be female, what if a male ended up getting the job. She said that the Scottish head doesn't like males to do HR work, so they're only hiring females! Wow!!! If that happened in the US he'd be fired so fast his head would spin! As if that wasn't enough, today we had a presentation for all the new employees. At the end of the presentation, the Scottish guy was bidding us all goodbye and then turned to the new HR (a lady obviously!) and asked, "What about lunch?" She said, "OK, let's ask everyone for suggestions." The Scottish guy responded, "Oh, I was just talking about you and me, and a couple of the other girls who just joined." Geez! Just the girls? The icing on this particular cake of course was my wise (not!) manager telling us, "Did you guys know that the new HR is single? Well, I'm just saying. I find it odd that she's single. I think HR managers should be married. See our current HR, she's married, that's why she does a good job."
And all of those were incidents just related to the new HR manager. We have tons of incidents like that every day. It's a fun game I play on certain days with myself - if this scene happened in the US, how many harassment lawsuits would be filed just for this conversation and how many would be fired.
The head of one of the divisions here is a Scottish man, about 50 years old. The office here is in the process of hiring a new HR manager and the current HR was chatting with me about the process. She gave a half-smile while remarking that we'd have more female blood in the office so all the males should feel happy (it was as if millions of feminist voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced!) While her remark itself would have gotten her into trouble in the US, the following was even more disturbing. I asked her why she was so sure that the next HR manager would be female, what if a male ended up getting the job. She said that the Scottish head doesn't like males to do HR work, so they're only hiring females! Wow!!! If that happened in the US he'd be fired so fast his head would spin! As if that wasn't enough, today we had a presentation for all the new employees. At the end of the presentation, the Scottish guy was bidding us all goodbye and then turned to the new HR (a lady obviously!) and asked, "What about lunch?" She said, "OK, let's ask everyone for suggestions." The Scottish guy responded, "Oh, I was just talking about you and me, and a couple of the other girls who just joined." Geez! Just the girls? The icing on this particular cake of course was my wise (not!) manager telling us, "Did you guys know that the new HR is single? Well, I'm just saying. I find it odd that she's single. I think HR managers should be married. See our current HR, she's married, that's why she does a good job."
And all of those were incidents just related to the new HR manager. We have tons of incidents like that every day. It's a fun game I play on certain days with myself - if this scene happened in the US, how many harassment lawsuits would be filed just for this conversation and how many would be fired.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)