KaafeeTime

A Farewell to Beirut

2006-07-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

I have nothing clever to say about the current turmoil in Palestine-Israel-Lebanon. But what I do say is that I neither agree nor understand why Lebonan is being destroyed so indiscriminately. However here's an excellent article which conveys the point more poignantly.

About Perspective

2006-05-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

Consider 3 instances

Sometime 6 months ago, US Marines shot and killed 24 innocent Iraqi civilians in Haditha, Iraq which included men, women and children some as young as 2 years old in an apparent revenge for the killing of a fellow Marine nearby. More on the massacre here
On May 24th 2006, Israel fired a air-to-ground missile intended to kill an Islamic Jihad bombmaker. It succeeded in doing so but the resulting sharpnel killed a grandmother, mother, a son from the same family and paralysed a 3 year old girl. And all this happened only because the father took his family out for a drive in his new 4-wheel drive. More here
Finally consider a failed relationship

Now imagine judgement day with these 3 groups of people, the 24 civilians, the 4 casualties, and a lone person. If these groups had been given choices of the fate from amongst what befell each of them, it would not take an Einstein to predict what each of them would have chosen.
The point of this post and my thought of the day(yes I do think sometimes) is: Its easy to lose focus in the day to day troubles we face in personal life or at work or for that matter anywhere else. Sometimes the troubles seem so huge that its hard to see beyond them. In these times its useful to realize that we still have a life left in which we could correct our mistakes, start something afresh or get a do over unlike some people who never get to have a second chance. So dont fret on simple issues and think and analyze them endlessly. Life is too rich and short to keep fussing over small issues. Lead it to your fullest satisfaction.

Saddam Hussein on hunger strike!

2006-02-14T09:36:00.000-08:00

I am only putting this because I find it remotely funny and also because this trial has become a farce. Saddam Hussein uses it for grandstanding and useless rants while the judges, and there have been innumerable already, waste their time when everybody knows what the end game is...oh come on...its kind of hard to see Saddam Hussein being declared not guilty!
Here

Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein said Tuesday he and several other defendants, including his half brother, are on a hunger strike. A defiant Hussein told the Iraqi court the defendants were protesting "the treatment from you and your masters."

As the lead judge banged the gavel and called for order, Hussein told him to "take that hammer and knock it on your own head."
After hearing from three witnesses, the judge adjourned the trial until February 28.

Blogging to Dilbert...

2005-10-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

Check this out. Courtesy the Dilbert Newsletter!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MY OWN DILBERT BLOG
===================

When I see news stories about people all over the world who are experiencing hardships, I worry about them, and I rack my brain wondering how I can make a difference. So I decided to start my own blog. That way I won’t have time to think about other people.

People who are trying to decide whether to create a blog or not go through a thought process much like this:

1. The world sure needs more of ME.
2. Maybe I’ll shout more often so that people nearby can experience the joy of knowing my thoughts.
3. No, wait, shouting looks too crazy.
4. I know – I’ll write down my daily thoughts and badger people to read them.
5. If only there was a description for this process that doesn’t involve the words egomaniac or unnecessary.
6. What? It’s called a blog? I’m there!

The blogger’s philosophy goes something like this:

Everything that I think about is more fascinating than the crap in your head.

The beauty of blogging, as compared to writing a book, is that no editor will be interfering with my random spelling and grammar, my complete disregard for the facts, and my wandering sentences that seem to go on and on and never end so that you feel like you need to take a breath and clear your head before you can even consider making it to the end of the sentence that probably didn’t need to be written anyhoo.
If that doesn’t inspire you to read my blog, I don’t know what will. You can find the Dilbert Blog at
Dilbert Blog

Thats 12 years!

2005-10-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

Imagine being pregnant for 12 years of your 39year old life! Thats what a mother from Arkansas has just done...she has given birth to her 16th child and NO she does not plan to stop anytime soon...

Read more of this wonderful story here

College memories!

2005-08-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

....................................................
Remembering my class mates, after few years
My eyes were filled with tears
Everyone now is busy a lot
No one escaped destiny's plot

Saw the girl, whom once I thought as my best friend
Oops! Today she is somebody else's girl friend,
After months, remembered about her for a little while,
Heard she is happy, that made me smile

Project reviews to campus interviews,
Nicknames to last bench games,
Cultural rehearsals to love proposals,
Short term crushes to class room blushes

Everything is fresh in our mind
Wish life could just rerewind,
Let's laugh, play and rejoice,
Once again become college guys

Chatting and laughing, we all were in elation
Till the painful moment of separation,
When it was time to part,
We returned with a heavy heart,

Today life is full of commitments,
And too many worries,
But those cherished moments,
Will live forever in our memories!!
....................................................

White Noise...

2005-07-06T14:44:00.000-07:00

1) My parents are currently visiting me in Santa Barbara. The first sign they gave me of how well they would take to staying here was when they asked me if it would be possible to get Udaya TV!
2) I got my first ticket for something which wasnt my fault and that too when my car was legitimately parked in a parking lot! And for the wierdest of reasons that I hadnt stuck my latest registration sticker on my license plate...what a bummer! I might have to go to Los Angeles now just to fight the god damned ticket
3) I am on an extreme caffeine diet(Life has been tough...what can I say!)
4) July 4th was a washout as far a I was concerned. (Fireworks are not very interesting me thinks!)
5) Came across an absolutely hilarious blog Dooce. The owner's claim to fame is that she was the first person to be dooced. A must read :))))))
6) Today's date is 7/6/5 :-)

Oddball

1) Reuters reports a story about a plane which landed on a Porsche. The driver in the Porsche was so stunned that he braked hard enough for the plane to go crashing over :)
2) Middle America is giving away land for free to whoever is willing to commit to staying there for atleast 5yrs. Population decline they say...

Friends of yesteryears!

2005-06-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

Looks like I did have something I wanted to rant about:). A friend of mine in Bangalore, India had a bizarre accident the last month of which I came to hear of very recently. Some two chumps on a motorcycle hit her on the head, while she was walking home from work, with an iron rod and tried to snatch away her handbag. As a result she fell on her face and blacked out but the handbag wouldnt come off her and she was dragged I understand quite some distance by the motorcycle. She got nine stitches on her head and her face is all messed up.But she seems to be OK now and recovering for the better!
We hadnt kept in touch for almost 3 years and I thought that this was bad enough to merit a call. If I had to descibe the effect the conversation had on me in a word I would call it wierd. I asked myself after it as to what I expected to come of it...and the answer was as before. But it wasn't in any way as before! I missed the warmth and the personal touch our conversations always had. Jokes didnt have the same effect anymore and I had absolutely no idea what to expect.

Which brings me to think can long distance relationships really stand the test of time? When is it time to realise that people have moved on? Or that they now have a life of their own and that you are no longer a part of it? Or whether it is me who needs to come to terms to the fact that even friends change?

Cheers Avinash

The week that was...

2005-06-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

So here I am again! Its that time when you look at your blog and come to the conclusion that there's a need for an update. But in the absence of any topics I like to talk about...I will put in stuff about how my week went!
A busy one actually though I did slack off a bit on Friday but isnt that to be expected:). Work is slowly taking over me or so I feel. When I reminisce about my last company, and its not been much time, I realise I was the king of my world. Mornings used to begin at 9:30's and days used to end sometimes as soon as 4:30's. But back then that is something I disliked and in one of the many funny ways mind works now that I have more work than I can handle I have started disliking this. Guess you always want something you can't have and dont want something of which you have more than enough!!
Apart from that I will start putting a percentage of my pay towards my retirement called the 401(k) plan after the Internal Revenue Service(IRS) act. What it basically is you invest a part of your money into stocks/mutual funds/securities and the company matches your contribution to a certain extent. And so this being my first foray into investing I am all heady and a bit nervous. I will also start buying my company stock. Isnt that exciting!! In my pursuit of sensible investing I have taken most of the (free)online advice available and hopefully it works out well. Though it does sadden me to see that I would be putting away money which I woudnt see for the next 30yrs atleast. Aww!
On the brighter or the duller side we have a volleyball tournament on Monday and lo and behold I have been made the captain of my team which unfortunately(for me) includes my CEO. I know s**t about volleyball and dont remember ever having played it. When I accepted the invite which I thought was to attend I being a newbie and all didnt know that attending means playing. Well o well we will wait and see. A non-playing captain isnt bad after all. India had it for quite some in the Davis Cup and they seemed to have fared not badly(then):)

Anyhoo...time to wrap up Have a safe and a happy weekend

Cheers

A private plane...well almost!

2005-05-31T19:17:00.000-07:00

My joke of the day...Reuters reports that Air Zimbabwe had one...yes just one passenger on a 6000 mile return trip on a Boeing 737 from Dubai to Harare, Zimbabwe. Wow...wondering what the passenger must have felt like :)

Nuremberg Diary

2005-05-29T22:23:00.000-07:00

(This post has been compiled from various Internet resources and is not an 'original piece' by any stretch of imagination)

This is about Hermann Goering, a Reichmarshall and Luftwaffe-chief, one of the highest ranking Nazi officials to be tried for war crimes. He was found guilty by the Nuremberg tribunal and ordered executed. That however could not be completed because Hermann Goering like so many of his Nazi colleagues committed suicide by consuming cyanide smuggled to him just before the execution.
What follows is his comments, before he was sentenced, to one Gustave Gilbert(who subsequently wrote the book whose title this blog takes 'Nuremberg Diary'). Gustave was a German-speaking intelligence officer and psychologist, who was allowed access to all the prisoners in the Nuremberg jail. Gustave records Hermann's observations that common people can be always manipulated to go to war, popular or unpopular, by their political leaders.

We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.
"Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."
"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."
"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

How true!!

Quote of the day(not exactly today:))

2005-05-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

A liberal is so broadminded that he sometimes does not take his own side in a quarrel. - Robert Frost

(I apologize if you guys/gals have heard/read it before but I found it immensely pleasing :))
Peace

Yahoo introduces a photo-email service!

2005-05-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

This is a cool thought! Yahoo has just introduced starting today a photo email service. Essentially what it does is say you want to send 100 photos to a group of people. It will send the thumbnails of all the images and then when the recipient clicks on the thumbnail the full resolution image is shown!
But it has some major issues. Most importantly it supports for now only IE 5.5 and above. Firefox and Netscape are not supported. I tried to have it installed on one of my Yahoo accounts which is associated with SBC(becoz of my DSL internet service with them) and it wouldnt accept the account saying the service is not available for an Internet partner affiliated account. I then tried it on a different Yahoo account and it gave me an error message asking me to try again later.
All said and done it promises to be a good prospect!

Anti-phishing toolbar released

2005-05-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

A anti-phishing toolbar was released on Tuesday by Netcraft. Its a free download and is available here. It is available for both IE and Firefox.
How it works is as soon as a url is reported as illegit, it blocks the site for all the toolbar users which protects against mass phishing scams

Cheers

Cool game...check it out!

2005-05-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

http://bumperball.dk/
To be honest I could barely keep it straight...it kind of feels difficult because the direction of movement on the screen do not match the direction arrows...I ended up hitting a goal though but still lost because the computer then hit a golden goal to break the tie! :-) Cheers

House on Milpas Street

2005-05-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

So my house search troubles seem to be taking a backseat. A management company finally declared me "financially sound" to rent a house and "approved" me. I may make a move as soon as Thursday! Till then Motel6 rules.
Meanwhile my first 3 days at my new workplace are over. I am still in the "orientation" phase which is always the boring part! I have other complaints to air though...my office has an AC which I hope atleast cools itself if not the surroundings, the annoying IT tickets I have to create for every damn thing, and most of all the people...I feel like I see new people every day!

Apologizing for my rants...I end this post :)
Cheers
Have a great remainder of the weekend!

Time machine...not a bad idea eh?

2005-05-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

I have been going crazy over the past 3 days!(probably because of my sky rocketing motel bills since I havent found a place yet to live!!)...but all the same a thought got to me when I was going back to the motel after the day's work...what would I be feeling/thinking one year on when I look back to this day?
I dont know about you guys....but its sounds both funny and interesting to me at the same time...funny because its such a ludicrous thought and interesting because I am not sure one year on whether I will even remember this day. Maybe I will but its quite possible I dont!
I still remember the day I got my first job(thought I didnt take it up!) and then again the day when I actually took the first job that I got! But then you always remember your firsts..dont you?
Hmmm...this seems such a half baked attempt at a blog topic...but will leave it on anyway:)
Chao

My first day at my new workplace tomorrow

2005-05-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

Started packing today! Have got some leads on housing...will check them out tomorrow! I will be driving down to Santa Barbara in the morning in what will be the longest going to work commute of my life...3hrs so will start at around 4:45am tomorrow so that I dont catch traffic in LA which I still might but by leaving 4hrs earlier than my start time I hope to compensate for any traffic.
Hopefully I reach early enough to grab a cup of caffeine and collect my thoughts.I will stay on in SB till Friday and and then pick up my stuff over the weekend if I have got a place to put it in or will have to keep it in storage.

I never thought I would say this but I WILL MISS YOU SAN DIEGO :(...YOU TREATED ME WELL...I ENJOYED MY TIME HERE!
Gudnite

The transfer saga ends finally! (on a good note :))

2005-05-16T20:37:00.000-07:00

You may call me a self aggrandizing fool...but I would like to transmit to outer space that my H1B transfer has gotten through! And now that it has there is a reasonably fair chance that nothing else can go wrong...and so this gives me a chance to give out my piece of mind (I know, I know our founding father said that if you keep giving a piece of your mind to everybody you meet soon you will have none left...but in all fairness he could not predict the prevalence of the modern day Internet or for that matter blogging!! which has allowed all and sundry to give their piece of mind out just once and make everybody get it ;))

Getting to the point..the H1B process SUCKS!

Why couldnt they have a simple online system where you or the company could file for an H1B? Why does a lawyer have to get 2 grand just for pushing paper? Why does it have to take so looooooong? Anyways a more painful process looms over the horizon...moving...
Peace

Day(and night) in the life of a gambler

2005-05-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

My skills as a gambler have never been much to speak of. I have been to Las vegas two times and have predictably lost both the times though the margins vary. The first time when I was with my office colleagues for a bachelor's party I lost about 25 bucks which considering the fact that we played for close to 8hrs wasnt bad at all. The second time I went with my school friends and ended up losing as much as 160 bucks.
So I went again this Saturday alone to a local San Diego casino(called Sycuan Resorts and Casino) with the future of my new job hanging like a Damocles sword over my neck. I started off on a familiar note losing in about 3hrs my entire bankroll of 200 I had brought. The gambling bug as it has gotten to so many people got to me too and paying a surcharge of $4 for using the casino ATM withdrew a further $60. This too came close and by close I mean within one hand of losing it all (again) when Lady Luck (literally...) in the form of a dealer named Tina chanced upon my table.
Her first shoe was more or less even for both of us. But then the reverse slide happened. My inexperienced and crazy bets seem to go through, if not always, atleast when it counted! (For people who play blackjack, by crazy I mean like doubling down on a hard 12 which I won 2 out of the 3 times...the dealer was surprised enough to call it aloud to the floor manager). And 14hrs later and $803 up, to be precise, I decided to call it a day :)
I wouldnt say Sycuan compares with the Vegas casinos. There is a wierd sort of energy in Vegas which gets distributed around. I mean people actually come to Vegas with the full knowledge that they have a high chance of losing money and this makes them not gun shy. I have never been a free flowing better myself but the energy puts you in a sort of stupor which you if you are sane enough will walk out after losing your original bankroll. But as in my case its never over till the fat lady sings!
My dream of buying a digital SLR is $803 closer! Hurrah!
Cheers and a gudnite

Is it worth it?

2005-05-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

I wonder how people go through all this...I am so tired of it!!
Things always seem to start out well but...
Just 3 weeks back I was on the top of the world (atleast I felt so :-)) when I got a new job and now everything seems to be stuck in a limbo because I have'nt heard from the attorney (don't want to start cursing him yet for obvious reasons) regarding whether the H1B transfer has been approved.
I already hear the classical Hindi adage ringing in the background "Dhobhi ka kutta na ghar ka na ghaat ka" . If you still havent got the gist...what I am trying to say is that I have already submitted my resignation to my current employer!!
And then there is the living issue since I have already given my notice to leave and will have a whale of time if something goes wrong :(

Well..well..I sign off saying "I will cross the bridge when it comes!" (but trust me thats not what I am feeling right now)
chao and enjoy!

A pain in the neck....literally!

2005-05-09T21:02:00.000-07:00

I seem to have this pain in the neck that refuses to go away. It seems to turn on as if by a magic wand when I drive to work and again when I drive back. This led me to believe that it could be my car seat but then the age old of all mysteries....how did it work before? Read somewhere I believe it was in Newsweek that persistent neck pain is one of the symptoms of depression! Thinking of it makes me go into one :(
Anyways mes will go to bed and allow my brain to blank out atleast for next 7-8hrs
Bon Nuit!
Gudnite!

25 things that prove you're a Bombayite

2005-04-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

1. You think Chowpatty & Juhu beaches as "nature"
2. You say "town " and expect everyone to know that this means south of Churchgate
3. You speak in a dialect of Hindi called 'Bambaiya Hindi',which only Bombayites can understand
4. Your door has more than three locks
5. Rs 500 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag
6. Train timings (9.27, 10.49 etc) are really important events of life
7. You spend more time each month traveling than you spend at home
8. You call an 8' x 10' clustered room a Hall
9. You're paying Rs 10,000 for a 1 room flat, the size of walk-in closet and you think it's a "steal"
10. You have the following sets of friend: school friends,college friends, neighborhood friends, office friends and yes, train friends, a species unique only in Bombay
11. Cabbies and bus conductors think you are from Mars if you call the roads by their Indian name, they are more familiar with Warden Road, Peddar Road, Altamount Road
12. Stock market quotes are the only other thing besides cricket which you follow passionately
13. The first thing that you read in the Times of India is the "Bombay Times" supplement
14. You take fashion seriously
15. You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you
16. Hookers, beggars and the homeless are invisible
17. You compare Bombay to New York's Manhattan instead of any other cities of India
18. The most frequently used part of your car is the horn
19. You insist on calling CST as VT, and Sahar and Santacruz airports instead of Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport
20. You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression
21. Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing on your toes
22. Being truly alone makes you nervous
23. You love wading through knee deep mucky water in the monsoons, and actually call it 'romantic'
24. Only in Bombay, you would get Chinese Dosa and Jain Chicken
25. You call traffic policemen as ‘Pandus’ and expect out-of-towners to understand that

The name says it all :)

2005-04-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

Check out the new search engine YAGOOHOOGLE ....Couldnt you guess :-) It shows you Google and Yahoo searches in two frames on the same page!

Team Blue(s)!!

2005-03-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

SO how do you prepare Maggi noodles in 2 mins

Step 1: Boil one cup of water
Step 2: As soon as ganguly goes for batting, put the noodles in the boiled water and add the tastemaker.
Step 3: Stir till ganguly is on the field.
Step 4: As soon as ganguly is back in pavilion, your noodles r ready to eat.

Cheers

My Easter Sunday

2005-03-29T19:19:00.000-08:00

I met one if my new neighbours on the Easter Sunday morning when on my way and on his way in

Me: Hey! Hows it going?
He: Good. Just back from the church. Do you go to the church man?
Me: Uh..No I don't
He: You should go man! It feels good
Me: Yeah it sure must be
He: Today was Easter mass man!
Me: Great!
He: Do you celebrate Easter man?
Me: No I don't
He: Too bad man too bad

I just saw him today in a "I love Jesus" sweatshirt

I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time. -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900)

Telemedicine... Dr.Frist?

2005-03-27T10:01:00.000-08:00

So looks like telemedicine has finally come of age? And only a politician could make that happen! and its none other Dr.Bill Frist, the next Republican president in waiting who after an hour or so of examination of video clips of Terri Schiavo, some 4 years old, pronounced that the earlier doctors opinions were wrong about her. And so also the opinions of the 19 judges in 6 courts who have been deciding the case for 15years before him. Also mind you, that he is a heart surgeon and not a neurologist doesnt cloud his opinions at all.

Which brings me to my opinion...do I want her to die? The answer would be resounding NO! do I want her to be allowed to die?...the answer is I dont know! And neither do the all the other people who claim to a speak for her. In fact no one who makes these motivated, bogus claims has even met her which makes their talk all the more condescending and worth ignoring

A walk in the clouds...

2005-03-26T13:02:00.000-08:00

Was going through some blogs the other day when I came across this one. Named 'A walk in the clouds" after the blogger's name and I must admit the blogger has a way with words. You must read it some day. But thats not the intended subject of this blog and I digress. The title of the blog reminds me of one of the earliest English movies I had seen "A walk in the clouds" starring Keanu Reeves and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón. And what I remember most about this movie is this particular exchange between Keanu Reeves(KR) and a passer by motorist(PBM) who gives KR a lift

PBM: So what were you doing around these parts?
KR: Walking...
PBM: Walking?
KR: Walking in the clouds...
PBM: Welcome back to Earth!

Chao and have a safe and enoyable weekend

F-16's for Pakistan

2005-03-26T09:00:00.000-08:00

So the Bush administration has decided to sell F-16's to Pakistan. The justification seems to be that it would not affect the "overall balance of power" in the subcontinent...indeed!!! And even more hilarious is Pakistan's reasons for wanting to buy those F-16's, it plans to use it against the terrorists*hmmm...*(the same ones that are housed in terrorist camps in northern Pakistan. The IBM ad punchline "On Demand" would more aptly fit the Pakistan terrorist supplies factory!).
Pakistan Prime Minister's comments on the sale

"Pakistan does not foster any aggressive designs against any country, but will continue to maintain minimum level of deterrence, needed to defend our homeland"

I hope he is talking about the same Pakistan which started and lost 4 wars with India, failed in its quest to create a Khalistan from Indian Punjab and now continues a proxy war in Indian held Kashmir.

Moving pains

2005-03-24T21:38:00.000-08:00

Moving can be very painful depending on what part of the world you move to. My parents left for India afer a 4 month stay with me and I decided to move myself, even if only to a different part of San Diego. And so I began my search looking for shared apartments on Craigslist in right earnest. While the listings were plentiful, I realised pretty soon that this was not going to be easy. Things almost never worked out either because I didnt like the apartment and/or the living souls in them or because they didnt like me which was mostly the case. I didnt want to move in with other "desis" because that would involve moving quite a distance from my workplace and I didnt want that.

My next phase in house hunting then involved looking for studio apartments and this proved a hell lot easier. I moved "Downtown" after finding a not so expensive place. But my joy was shortlived when my insurance company conveyed in very clear terms that they did not like my moving idea by increasing both by renter's insurance and car insurance, phew...double whammy!

Finally my day of moving came.I rented a U Haul truck and man it feels different driving a truck when all you can lay claim to have ever driven is a Kinetic Honda and a Toyota Corolla. Anyways that ride to and back was uneventful but nevertheless an unnerving experience.

What did I leave and what did I bring? Well I brought all my stuff except my computer table, the only reason being that while I could drag it down there was no way I could pull it up all alone. Don't you have any friends? For starters lets say that the only people I know in San Diego are non desis and that being the day of the Super Bowl not many were forthcoming.

All said and done, to keep things in perspective, my best friend is moving back to Bangalore,India from Wichita, KS after a 3year stay*sigh*. He plans to visit the Niagara Falls before he bids adieu to Pax Americana!

Ebay.in India

2005-03-24T21:12:00.000-08:00

Ebay India makes it shubh aarambh in its new avatar. From the looks of it has a lot better feel and is definitely faster than what Baazee.com was earlier. And it is in ".in" domain! Hurrah!

Dharavi Facts

2005-03-24T20:38:00.000-08:00

Asia's largest slums
Covers 175 hectares(about 432 acres), about half the size of New York's Central Park
How many people does it hold? 600,000...Now wonder just how?
Main source of water supply? Leaking pipes
Working toilets? 150

Salaam Bombay!! There is also an other page of tangential interest listing India Facts and Figures here. Makes for an interesting read.

Driving in India

2005-03-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

(This hilarious article was written by a Dutchman from Baan, Netherlands who spent two years in Hyderabad, India, as a visiting expert for Lonely Planet. Its a long one...read it in leisure...I bet you will laugh your heart out !)
Driving in India For the benefit of every Tom, Dick and Harry visiting India and daring to drive on Indian roads, I am offering a few hints for survival. They are applicable to every place in India except Bihar, where life outside a vehicle is only marginally safer.
Indian road rules broadly operate within the domain of karma where you do your best, and leave the results to your insurance company. The hints are as follows: Do we drive on the left or right of the road? The answer is "both". Basically you start on the left of the road, unless it is occupied.In that case, go to the right, unless that is also occupied. Then proceed by occupying the next available gap, as in chess. Just trust your instincts, ascertain the direction, and proceed. Adherence to road rules leads to much misery and occasional fatality. Most drivers don't drive, but just aim their vehicles in the generally intended direction.
Don't you get discouraged or underestimate yourself except for a belief in reincarnation, the other drivers are not in any better position. Don't stop at pedestrian crossings just because some fool wants to cross the road. You may do so only if you enjoy being bumped in the back. Pedestrians have been strictly instructed to cross only when traffic is moving slowly or has come to a dead stop because some minister is in town. Still some idiot may try to wade across, but then, let us not talk ill of the dead.
Blowing your horn is not a sign of protest as in some countries. We horn to express joy, resentment, frustration, romance and bare lust (two brisk blasts),or just mobilize a dozing cow in the middle of the bazaar. Keep informative books in the glove compartment. You may read them during traffic jams, while awaiting the chief minister's motorcade, or waiting for the rainwaters to recede when overground traffic meets underground drainage.
Occasionally you might see what looks like a UFO with blinking coloredlights and weird sounds emanating from within. This is an illuminated bus, full of happy pilgrims singing bhajans. These pilgrims go at breakneck speed, seeking contact with the Almighty, often meeting with success.
Auto Rickshaw (Baby Taxi): The result of a collision between a rickshaw and an automobile, this three-wheeled vehicle works on an external combustion engine that runs on a mixture of kerosene oil and creosote. This triangular vehicle carries iron rods, gas cylinders or passenger s three times its weight and dimension, at an unspecified fare. After careful geometric calculations, children are folded and packed into these auto rickshaws until some children in the periphery are not in contact with the vehicle at all. Then their school bags are pushed into the microscopic gaps all round so those minor collisions with other vehicles on the road cause no permanent damage. Of course, the peripheral children are charged half the fare and also learn Newton's laws of motion enroute to school. Auto-rickshaw drivers follow the road rules depicted in the film Ben Hur, and are licensed to irritate.
Mopeds:The moped looks like an oil tin on wheels and makes noise like an electric shaver. It runs 30 miles on a teaspoon of petrol andtravels at break-bottom speed. As the sides of the road are too rough for a ride, the moped drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road; they would rather drive under heavier vehicles instead of around them and are often "mopped" off the tarmac.
Leaning Tower of Passes: Most bus passengers are given free passes and during rush hours, there is absolute mayhem. There are passengers hanging off other passengers, who in turn hang off the railings and the overloaded bus leans dangerously, defying laws of gravity but obeying laws of surface tension. As drivers get paid for overload (so many Rupees per kg of passenger), no questions are ever asked. Steer clear of these buses by a width of three passengers.
One-way Street:These boards are put up by traffic people to add jest in their otherwise drab lives. Don't stick to the literal meaning and proceed in one direction. In metaphysical terms, it means that you cannot proceed in two directions at once. So drive as you like, in reverse throughout, if you are the fussy type. Least I sound hypercritical, I must add a positive point also. Rash and fast driving in reside ntial areas has been prevented by providing a "speed breaker"; two for each house. This mound, incidentally, covers the water and drainage pipes for that residence and is left untarred for easy identification by the corporation authorities, should they want to recover the pipe for year-end accounting.
Night driving on Indian roads can be an exhilarating experience for those with the mental make up of Ghenghis Khan. In a way, it is like playing Russian roulette, because you do not know who amongst the drivers is loaded. What looks like premature dawn on the horizon turns out to be a truck attempting a speed record. On encountering it, just pull partly into the field adjoining the road until the phenomenon passes.
Our roads do not have shoulders, but occasional boulders. Do not blink your lights expecting reciprocation. The only dim thing in the truck is the driver, and with the peg of illicit arrack (alcohol) he has had at the last stop, his total cerebral functions add up to littlemore than a naught. Truck drivers are the James Bonds of India, and are licensed to kill. Often you may encounter a single powerful beam of light about six feet above the ground. This is not a super motorbike, but a truck approaching you with a single light on, usually the left one. It could be the right one, but never get too close to investigate. You may prove your point posthumously. Of course, all this occurs at night,on the trunk roads.
During the daytime, trucks are more visible, except that the drivers will never show any signal. (And you must watch for the absent signals; they are the greater threat). Only, you will often observe that the cleaner who sits next to the driver, will project his hand and wave hysterically. This is definitely not to be construed as a signal for a left turn. The waving is just an statement of physical relief on a hot day.
If, after all this, you still want to drive in India, have your lessons between 8 pm and 11 am-when the police have gone home and - The citizen is then free to enjoy the 'FREEDOM OF SPEED' enshrined in the constitution. Having said all this, isn't it true that the accident rate and related deaths are less in India compared to US or other countries!!

Traffic blues

2005-02-26T18:53:00.000-08:00

These are some of the stories people have told at traffic courts(in NY) as reported in NYT. What follows is an excerpt from the above referenced article.
The writer starts of by saying that traffic courts are some of the best places in NY to get a free show. He rates his most popular story as that from a man who was fined making an illegal turn. While the man confessed to it he said that it was not his fault. According to him the poisonous airborne fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster(this story is set in the mid 80's) in the Soviet Union arrived in New York and hit his elbow, which was sticking out his driver-side window, and this distraction caused him to turn his car accidentally. When this did not in any way help his defense he came up with a bad turkey story which failed along with a broken speedometer( wonder why you need a speedometer when you are making an illegal turn!) and finally murderous gold thieves(of course that didnt matter that he wasnt carrying any gold).
The writer goes on to suggest that innovative, new stories rarely work. Rather banal ones seem to work more often. Broken car parts, hidden road signs, poor visibility are almost non starters. My brushes with traffic fines have mainly(only) been in India. I had a Kinetic Honda which I used to drive to school. I had driven that scooter for almost 4 years(the legal driving age in India is 18 and I was in India only till 21...hope you get the drift) and was caught twice. Once for driving in the opposite direction of traffic(my defense to the pandu was I was driving outside road limits), I did not get fined for that but that was mainly because he realised very early that I did not have any money to give him. The other time was when my scooter was towed because I had parked in a no parking zone. I did end up paying Rs.150 for that since it had already been towed to the Suman Nagar traffic police station.
I do not know for a fact if there is something called a traffic court in India. What also surprises me is if the RTO actually earns any money from traffic fines. I have never heard of people in Bombay paying 'actual' fines. It is usually quick justice. The experienced get off by bribing less and the less fortunate end up bribing more! I myself never thought of obeying any traffic rules(except for the red signal) while in India. Funny how things change when you come to a land where rules are actually followed. Here in the US I have never even broken a STOP sign (on purpose) let alone do other fancy tricks. Sometimes I do wonder why that is the case, whether it is because of the steep traffic fines which will be enforced, or the fear of getting sued, or the fact that I do not have any medical insurance or maybe even the fact that when most people follow the rules you do too!! Guess India as a mature democracy still has a way to go.

Lets start with my version of Hello World!!

2005-02-12T15:50:00.000-08:00

Hello World!