Two days back the weather forecast department (I don't call it meteorological department, sounds like something to do with meteors) announced that in the next two days Bangalore will be gripped by a cold wave with temperatures hitting all time lows. Somehow this news brought out a chuckle from me. The weather forecast in India has been horrendously off target ever since they started forecasting. True again this time, it has been sunny and warm for the last two days and there is no sign of a cold wave coming. They quickly corrected the forecast today, saying something like "When we said cold wave, we actually meant sunshine and heat"!
I wonder why is the weather forecast so unpredictable in India. I have heard argument that it is because Indians don't depend on weather predictions anyway. But I think it is in fact the other way around! We have the weather satellites (I hope we do, ISRO has been sending all those INSATs for years!), we have the computers, we have the department and people. Why do they go so wrong in forecasting weather? I have seen that in southern England, where the weather can change from pristine sunshine to heavy rains in a matter of half and hour, they do a much better job of forecasting the weather. We in India are talking about a Tsunami warning system, when we cannot predict if it is going to be sunny or raining tomorrow.
I remember watching the weather report on Doordarshan's Kannada channel a number of years back. One day it went something like this: "Rajyada uttara mattu dakshina oLanaadinalli allalli chaduridanthe maLeyaagalide. ULidanthe oNa have munduvariyalide". Gah! Weather reporters on private news channels may look more professional and glamorous now, but the weather forecast is not too better than daily horoscope. May be even worse.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Friday, December 30, 2005
Terror in Bangalore
After Wednesday's tragic terror attack at IISc, there have been a few hoax calls and letters about bombs being planted in various parts of the city. I wonder if such a call about a bomb being planted has ever come true. After all, the people who planted the bomb want it to go off and cause maximum casualty, so why would they alert their victims beforehand? Unfortunately no such call can be ignored, which makes it easy for pranksters to have fun making fake calls. It is impossible to protect the whole city against such attacks, so I am afraid that such things can happen again.
Meanwhile, what surprises me is the ease with which the attackers got away from the IISc the other day. How did they manage to make such a clean exit from the crime site and leave the police with absolutely no clues to hunt them down? The police, so far, have clearly figured out that the crime has been committed by 'some' people, now they just need to find out who these 'people' are. They are strongly suspecting that 'terrorists' are involved! Good guess guys!!! They are also suspecting that the attackers used a car or a bike or city bus to arrive at the scene, or else they must have come on foot! Police are probably hoping that one of the terrorist organizations will claim responsibility to the act, making their work easier. Meanwhile they are quickly familiarizing themselves with acronyms of terrorist organizations operating in Kashmir. (For example, LeT is not same as LTTE).
The public meanwhile are wondering how their life will change with these new terrorists in town. So far the only terrorists on road they were afraid of were auto and BMTC drivers. People are also wondering which vehicle allowed the terrorists to flee so easily, without being stuck in Bangalore's traffic jams during that busy hour. The Government is meanwhile wondering how to prevent terrorists from fleeing the site of crime so easily - "We need more traffic jams on our roads!"
Meanwhile, what surprises me is the ease with which the attackers got away from the IISc the other day. How did they manage to make such a clean exit from the crime site and leave the police with absolutely no clues to hunt them down? The police, so far, have clearly figured out that the crime has been committed by 'some' people, now they just need to find out who these 'people' are. They are strongly suspecting that 'terrorists' are involved! Good guess guys!!! They are also suspecting that the attackers used a car or a bike or city bus to arrive at the scene, or else they must have come on foot! Police are probably hoping that one of the terrorist organizations will claim responsibility to the act, making their work easier. Meanwhile they are quickly familiarizing themselves with acronyms of terrorist organizations operating in Kashmir. (For example, LeT is not same as LTTE).
The public meanwhile are wondering how their life will change with these new terrorists in town. So far the only terrorists on road they were afraid of were auto and BMTC drivers. People are also wondering which vehicle allowed the terrorists to flee so easily, without being stuck in Bangalore's traffic jams during that busy hour. The Government is meanwhile wondering how to prevent terrorists from fleeing the site of crime so easily - "We need more traffic jams on our roads!"
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Who are these 'Indians'?
Almost every day, English newspapers in India, especially TOI, report news like "NRI girl is the most popular radio jockey in Canada", "NRI becomes the local council member in US" and recently even "NRI is among the sexiest men in the world"! Whenever I see such news, I read through to see if these NRIs are really Indians by any means. Because after all, NRIs should be Non-Resident INDIANS.
I am often surprised at how easily the press categorizes any famous person with a remote link to India as Indians. For example, if the person's grandmother was half Indian, or if the person's forefathers migrated to Fiji from India a couple of centuries ago, or in extreme cases, any Hindu is categorized as Indian, because after all, Hinduism originated in India ;-) Because this person isn't in India now, he/she should be an NRI :-)
I wish the press was more careful while branding anyone and everyone as NRI. For example, people whose forefathers migrated from India, possibly when Shivaji was alive, are not Indians anymore! Ditto about children of sardars who migrated to Canada in 50s. Even a person born and brought up in India, once he/she takes up citizenship of another country, should not be called Indian or NRI. They are not Indians anymore, forgodsake! The max we could go is call them people of Indian origin.
While at it, there is another class of people - Resident Non Indians - RNIs. These are people who are living in India, but behave as if they are not. This is especially seen in desis returning to India after a stint in the US. You know the type - they fill 'gas' in their car's petrol tank, ask for 'restrooms' instead of toilets, talk with a semi-cooked American accent and begin every sentence with either "This is not how it is in US..." or "When I was in US...". I have heard that some of the RNIs haven't even gone out of India once!
I am often surprised at how easily the press categorizes any famous person with a remote link to India as Indians. For example, if the person's grandmother was half Indian, or if the person's forefathers migrated to Fiji from India a couple of centuries ago, or in extreme cases, any Hindu is categorized as Indian, because after all, Hinduism originated in India ;-) Because this person isn't in India now, he/she should be an NRI :-)
I wish the press was more careful while branding anyone and everyone as NRI. For example, people whose forefathers migrated from India, possibly when Shivaji was alive, are not Indians anymore! Ditto about children of sardars who migrated to Canada in 50s. Even a person born and brought up in India, once he/she takes up citizenship of another country, should not be called Indian or NRI. They are not Indians anymore, forgodsake! The max we could go is call them people of Indian origin.
While at it, there is another class of people - Resident Non Indians - RNIs. These are people who are living in India, but behave as if they are not. This is especially seen in desis returning to India after a stint in the US. You know the type - they fill 'gas' in their car's petrol tank, ask for 'restrooms' instead of toilets, talk with a semi-cooked American accent and begin every sentence with either "This is not how it is in US..." or "When I was in US...". I have heard that some of the RNIs haven't even gone out of India once!
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Shopping in Bangalore
It appears that every day a new mall comes up in Bangalore. So shoppers have more and more choice every day. However, a large percentage of shopping - both wholesale and retail still happens in and around K.R. Market - BVK Iyengar Road area. This is where a number of 'pet's are - Chikpet, Sultanpet, Balepet, Tharagupet, Pearlpet and so on. Oh, sorry, Pearlpet is a company making plastic jars.
I used to be sceptical about the benefits of shopping in these areas and I used to think that the trouble in finding parking place, bargaining and rush in these areas nullifies the advantage of cost savings. However, over the last year I have been to BVK Iyengar Road and surrounding areas a number of times and I can now confidently say that even those who are not good at bargaining, end up saving significant amount of money here compared to other areas. This is pretty much the only area in Bangalore where you can buy everything for less than MRP. Be prepared to start bargaining with at least 25% less over the price he quotes and never stoop below 15%.
One of the major gripes about going to this area is the lack of car parking. However, I saw a good improvement when I went there this weekend. There is now a new multi-storeyed car parking on the junction of BVK Iyengar road and K.G. Road. It was designed to be just like car parkings in western countries, but due to various reasons it has ended up being slightly different. First of all, the inward ramps are so narrow, they test the driving skills of the driver. If I felt that way in my Alto, people who have bigger cars must be feeling afraid to take their cars through. Downward ramps seemed to be alright, though! The staff manning the place are from a private company and they were very friendly and professional, which was a pleasant surprise. There were a large number of them (staff), just like it is with anything in India. They sent me off with Christmas and new year wishes! Parking fee is quite reasonable for the facility - 10Rs for 1 hour and 20Rs upto 4 hours. I hope the other parking areas being constructed / planned by BDA/BCC reach completion soon.
I used to be sceptical about the benefits of shopping in these areas and I used to think that the trouble in finding parking place, bargaining and rush in these areas nullifies the advantage of cost savings. However, over the last year I have been to BVK Iyengar Road and surrounding areas a number of times and I can now confidently say that even those who are not good at bargaining, end up saving significant amount of money here compared to other areas. This is pretty much the only area in Bangalore where you can buy everything for less than MRP. Be prepared to start bargaining with at least 25% less over the price he quotes and never stoop below 15%.
One of the major gripes about going to this area is the lack of car parking. However, I saw a good improvement when I went there this weekend. There is now a new multi-storeyed car parking on the junction of BVK Iyengar road and K.G. Road. It was designed to be just like car parkings in western countries, but due to various reasons it has ended up being slightly different. First of all, the inward ramps are so narrow, they test the driving skills of the driver. If I felt that way in my Alto, people who have bigger cars must be feeling afraid to take their cars through. Downward ramps seemed to be alright, though! The staff manning the place are from a private company and they were very friendly and professional, which was a pleasant surprise. There were a large number of them (staff), just like it is with anything in India. They sent me off with Christmas and new year wishes! Parking fee is quite reasonable for the facility - 10Rs for 1 hour and 20Rs upto 4 hours. I hope the other parking areas being constructed / planned by BDA/BCC reach completion soon.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Mystery of Mona Lisa's smile
Looks like people's fascination about Mona Lisa's smile is not going to subside any time soon, in fact it is only going to worsen, like Bangalore's roads. There was a recent scientific study in this area, through which they 'cracked the enigma of her smile'. "According to findings published in the New Scientist, a British journal, the exact breakdown of Mona Lisa's emotions, as captured by Leonardo da Vinci, were 83 percent happy, 9 percent disgusted, 6 percent fearful, and 2 percent angry." Heck, I am sure they couldn't have analyzed even their wife's smiles this well.
I have seen Mona Lisa when I visited Paris in 2001. I can surely say her expression is 50% surprise and 50% disbelief. Surprise and disbelief that the people of the world are making so much fuss out of her facial expression. I am sure da Vinci will be laughing himself to death in his grave. Oh wait, he can't do that!
I have seen Mona Lisa when I visited Paris in 2001. I can surely say her expression is 50% surprise and 50% disbelief. Surprise and disbelief that the people of the world are making so much fuss out of her facial expression. I am sure da Vinci will be laughing himself to death in his grave. Oh wait, he can't do that!
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Fair and (uh!) handsome?
Indians have always been attracted to fair skin and considered fair skin superior. I guess when the British landed on Indian shores centuries ago, all they had to do was to just show up and Indians immediately prayed to them "Rule us, please, rule us". It was only because Michael Jackson turned himself white from black, he is considered a 'white' hot star in India. Most of his Indian fans want to meet him probably just to know who his plastic surgeon is :-) Indian girls have always tried to become fairer, proof being the approximately two thousand skin whitening creams available in the market. Going by the claims of these beauty creams, most Indian women should have become at least as fair as Caucasians by now, leaving the Indian men 'in the dark'!
The Indian male had somehow been left behind in this race to 'whiteness'. But not anymore. Recently I saw a TV ad for a product called 'fair and handsome'! It shows a really fair young man being flanked by beautiful girls, apparently just because he is fairer than them! Ha ha! Now Indian girls will have a 'fair' competition from the boys!
The Indian male had somehow been left behind in this race to 'whiteness'. But not anymore. Recently I saw a TV ad for a product called 'fair and handsome'! It shows a really fair young man being flanked by beautiful girls, apparently just because he is fairer than them! Ha ha! Now Indian girls will have a 'fair' competition from the boys!
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Sandwiches speak Kannada?
I noticed this while running spell-check for my previous entry in this blog. Google thinks the people who speak Kannada are called - prepare to be surprised - sandwiches!! See the image attached here. It could have made some sense to call them Bisi Bele Baths or something like that. Or is this to indicate that Kannadigas are now sandwiched between people who speak other languages? :-)
Bangalore vs Bengalooru
Ever since the Government announced plans to rename Bangalore as Bengalooru (or Bengaluru) last week, there has been a lot of discussion in mainstream media about the pros and cons of it. English newspapers have written mostly about the cons of it. People have expressed their views on both sides of this issue in newspapers, on radio, near office water coolers and at neighborhood addas. I used to have the opinion that any such name change should not be encouraged. I always agreed with the idea that Governments resort to such gimmicks to distract people from the core issues plaguing the city, like development.
However, a few opinions I saw and heard in the last few days have made me re-evaluate my opinion. I was listening to one argument on RadioCity, where a guy said "Yes we know there are problems with Bangalore, Government is not doing enough to improve infrastructure in the city. However, why should that come in the way of renaming our city Bengalooru? What's the connection? After all, Kannadigas have always been calling it Bengalooru all the time". Another argument against renaming Bangalore was that it will lose it's well known name, thus affecting the city's 'brand value'. However, I was reading about such renamings that were done in many countries of the world. Our own Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkota are good examples as well. I don't think any city has suffered a decrease in brand value due to change in name. So why should it affect Bangalore? Hence I think that argument is not valid.
There is one argument against renaming Bangalore that will hold good, though. Our Government will project this as their greatest achievement and forget about doing anything else for the city. Government will spend an exhobirant amount of taxpayer's money in this process. Other cities will quickly ask for name change as well (Mysooru, Mangalooru, etc) and that will start off a chain reaction. So in all this, we the citizens lose a lot.
So I think renaming Bangalore is perfectly fine in principle, but the only real reason to oppose it is our corrupt Governments taking undue advantage of it for their own benefits, wasting a lot of taxpayer's money in the process. Unfortunately this reason will hold true for anything and everything in our country.
However, a few opinions I saw and heard in the last few days have made me re-evaluate my opinion. I was listening to one argument on RadioCity, where a guy said "Yes we know there are problems with Bangalore, Government is not doing enough to improve infrastructure in the city. However, why should that come in the way of renaming our city Bengalooru? What's the connection? After all, Kannadigas have always been calling it Bengalooru all the time". Another argument against renaming Bangalore was that it will lose it's well known name, thus affecting the city's 'brand value'. However, I was reading about such renamings that were done in many countries of the world. Our own Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkota are good examples as well. I don't think any city has suffered a decrease in brand value due to change in name. So why should it affect Bangalore? Hence I think that argument is not valid.
There is one argument against renaming Bangalore that will hold good, though. Our Government will project this as their greatest achievement and forget about doing anything else for the city. Government will spend an exhobirant amount of taxpayer's money in this process. Other cities will quickly ask for name change as well (Mysooru, Mangalooru, etc) and that will start off a chain reaction. So in all this, we the citizens lose a lot.
So I think renaming Bangalore is perfectly fine in principle, but the only real reason to oppose it is our corrupt Governments taking undue advantage of it for their own benefits, wasting a lot of taxpayer's money in the process. Unfortunately this reason will hold true for anything and everything in our country.
About Air India
I travelled Air India/Indian Airlines during my visit to US this time. People are always apprehensive about travelling these 'national carriers'. We get to hear horror stories about how badly they they are managed, how badly the staff behaved and so on. I now have first-hand information about these airlines, so I am ready to bust some myths about them.
* Air India/Indian Airlines flights are all old.
- True. But what about? The fact is, pretty much all American airline companies are under bankruptcy protection or close to getting there. So they are forced to run their crafts until, say, one of the wings falls off. So we can pardon AI/IA there.
* AI flights are not safe
- Baseless.
* AI check-in staff are rude and unhelpful.
- Not true. I saw perfectly helpful and smiling staff at AI/IA check-in desks. Of course there may be some rude staff in some places, but can you say that won't happen with other airlines? The AI check-in desk staff in Chicago turned out to be dumb, though. They insisted that I move some stuff from my cabin luggage to my laptop bag, because cabin luggage was too heavy. I had to convince them that since both go into the same overhead storage in the flight, it won't make a difference :-)
* AI flight crew are old, slow, stiff faced and unhelpful.
- Partially true. If flight crew have to deal with misbehaving passengers every day, we cannot expect them to remain cheerful throughout the journey. Many desis, once they board AI flight, feel obliged to ask for additional servings of alchohol and within a couple of hours of flight, can't control their minds well. Some feel it is the right opportunity to flirt with air hostesses (What is your name? You are very beautiful. Which city are you from? and so on). Pretty much nobody heeds to the announcements made in the flight until the crew force them to (Landing instructions, etc). Very few of the passengers say "Thank you" when being served. So we can compare the state of crew to BMTC conductors at the end of their day. Considering all this, they do a fantastic job.
* AI flights stink
- True only in toilets, but that too not at the beginning of the journey! Many don't like using toilet paper, so they carry cups to the toilets and... you get the idea. So by the end of the journey there will be water logged on the floor of the toilet, so obviously it stinks. Most passengers don't perform the basic courtesy cleaning of the wash basin, so that stinks too.
* Jet Airways is better than IA.
- True. Jet is better than pretty much all of the domestic flights in the US as well :-)
* Food in AI is good.
- True.
So all in all I think AI/IA do a pretty good job. Some people complain about everything that is 'ours', so they surely complain!
* Air India/Indian Airlines flights are all old.
- True. But what about
* AI flights are not safe
- Baseless.
* AI check-in staff are rude and unhelpful.
- Not true. I saw perfectly helpful and smiling staff at AI/IA check-in desks. Of course there may be some rude staff in some places, but can you say that won't happen with other airlines? The AI check-in desk staff in Chicago turned out to be dumb, though. They insisted that I move some stuff from my cabin luggage to my laptop bag, because cabin luggage was too heavy. I had to convince them that since both go into the same overhead storage in the flight, it won't make a difference :-)
* AI flight crew are old, slow, stiff faced and unhelpful.
- Partially true. If flight crew have to deal with misbehaving passengers every day, we cannot expect them to remain cheerful throughout the journey. Many desis, once they board AI flight, feel obliged to ask for additional servings of alchohol and within a couple of hours of flight, can't control their minds well. Some feel it is the right opportunity to flirt with air hostesses (What is your name? You are very beautiful. Which city are you from? and so on). Pretty much nobody heeds to the announcements made in the flight until the crew force them to (Landing instructions, etc). Very few of the passengers say "Thank you" when being served. So we can compare the state of crew to BMTC conductors at the end of their day. Considering all this, they do a fantastic job.
* AI flights stink
- True only in toilets, but that too not at the beginning of the journey! Many don't like using toilet paper, so they carry cups to the toilets and... you get the idea. So by the end of the journey there will be water logged on the floor of the toilet, so obviously it stinks. Most passengers don't perform the basic courtesy cleaning of the wash basin, so that stinks too.
* Jet Airways is better than IA.
- True. Jet is better than pretty much all of the domestic flights in the US as well :-)
* Food in AI is good.
- True.
So all in all I think AI/IA do a pretty good job. Some people complain about everything that is 'ours', so they surely complain!
Monday, December 12, 2005
How is 'namma Bengalooru'?
I returned to Bangalore last Tuesday and have slowly gotten adjusted back to life here. I was surprised at how much my home city has changed in little less than 6 months. I am sure people who left Bangalore a few years back will find it hard to believe the amount of changes that has happened here. I will try to answer a few questions such people may ask:
Q: I am flying straight to Bangalore from Frankfurt/London. How is the customs and immigration facility in Bangalore?
A: When I landed in Bangalore this time, I was pleasantly surprised to find smiling, friendly staff at immigration counters. No, I am not joking. They were indeed better than the immigration folks in Chicago airport. They surely set us off on a good mood at 5:30AM. However, customs has not improved much :-(
Q: I have heard that Bangalore airport is very crowded now-a-days and it looks like the Majestic bus stand at times?
A: No, Majestic bus stand does not get that crowded.
Q: How is the traffic situation in Bangalore?
A: Contrary to popular belief, Bangalore's roads are now safer than ever before. All cars move at an average 10kmph and bikes at 15kmph now, so number of fatal accidents is coming down drastically. People walk out of head-on collisions without a scratch on their body!
Q: How is the condition roads in Bangalore?
A: You would have seen some jokes a couple of years back comparing Bangalore's roads to moon's rocky surface. Well, those are not jokes anymore. Only Ashok Leyland, Shaktiman and Ambassador have the right technology to build right vehicles for Bangalore's roads.
Q: How is the water shortage situation?
A: This problem has been fixed. This year during the rains the authorities ensured that all houses get enough supply of water in their ground floor rooms. If that was not enough, there was enough water on the roads.
Q: I was asking about drinking water, through the pipes.
A: Oh!
Q: How is the condition of Kannada in Bangalore?
A: The Government has announced the solution to this problem today. Bangalore will be renamed Bengalooru and that will solve all the problems. It is surprising that the earlier Governments could not think of this.
Q: Is there good coverage of mobile phone network?
A: You must have been away from Bangalore for quite a few years. Now-a-days it is impossible to be in any place where Airtel coverage isn't there. Unless you are in a bunker designed to protect from nuclear bombs.
Q: How is the cost of living?
A: Here is where Bangalore is giving serious competition to the cities in western countries. If you have been in a small city in mid-western US and if you are returning to Bangalore, mentally prepare yourself - you are not as rich as you thought you are.
Q: How is the airport road flyover helping? How about the flyover at Jayadeva circle?
A: If you are returning to Bangalore after 2 years, there is nothing to see at the airport road flyover construction place, because nothing has changed! Jayadeva circle flyover is not very different either. Any joke about these is not funny anymore.
Q: When will these flyovers be ready?
A: This year
Q: That is what you said last year!
A: True. And the year before as well.
Q: Are there shopping malls, multiplexes, good cars and high speed internet access in India?
A: Yes. You should visit India more often.
Q: I am flying straight to Bangalore from Frankfurt/London. How is the customs and immigration facility in Bangalore?
A: When I landed in Bangalore this time, I was pleasantly surprised to find smiling, friendly staff at immigration counters. No, I am not joking. They were indeed better than the immigration folks in Chicago airport. They surely set us off on a good mood at 5:30AM. However, customs has not improved much :-(
Q: I have heard that Bangalore airport is very crowded now-a-days and it looks like the Majestic bus stand at times?
A: No, Majestic bus stand does not get that crowded.
Q: How is the traffic situation in Bangalore?
A: Contrary to popular belief, Bangalore's roads are now safer than ever before. All cars move at an average 10kmph and bikes at 15kmph now, so number of fatal accidents is coming down drastically. People walk out of head-on collisions without a scratch on their body!
Q: How is the condition roads in Bangalore?
A: You would have seen some jokes a couple of years back comparing Bangalore's roads to moon's rocky surface. Well, those are not jokes anymore. Only Ashok Leyland, Shaktiman and Ambassador have the right technology to build right vehicles for Bangalore's roads.
Q: How is the water shortage situation?
A: This problem has been fixed. This year during the rains the authorities ensured that all houses get enough supply of water in their ground floor rooms. If that was not enough, there was enough water on the roads.
Q: I was asking about drinking water, through the pipes.
A: Oh!
Q: How is the condition of Kannada in Bangalore?
A: The Government has announced the solution to this problem today. Bangalore will be renamed Bengalooru and that will solve all the problems. It is surprising that the earlier Governments could not think of this.
Q: Is there good coverage of mobile phone network?
A: You must have been away from Bangalore for quite a few years. Now-a-days it is impossible to be in any place where Airtel coverage isn't there. Unless you are in a bunker designed to protect from nuclear bombs.
Q: How is the cost of living?
A: Here is where Bangalore is giving serious competition to the cities in western countries. If you have been in a small city in mid-western US and if you are returning to Bangalore, mentally prepare yourself - you are not as rich as you thought you are.
Q: How is the airport road flyover helping? How about the flyover at Jayadeva circle?
A: If you are returning to Bangalore after 2 years, there is nothing to see at the airport road flyover construction place, because nothing has changed! Jayadeva circle flyover is not very different either. Any joke about these is not funny anymore.
Q: When will these flyovers be ready?
A: This year
Q: That is what you said last year!
A: True. And the year before as well.
Q: Are there shopping malls, multiplexes, good cars and high speed internet access in India?
A: Yes. You should visit India more often.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Going away from people I liked
One of the best things about Austin has been meeting good people, many of which are old friends. We get to know people only when we meet them outside work, which mostly does not happen while in India. I would have never known Suresh and Murali this well if I had not met them in Austin. And then I got to meet old friends from my hostel in Mysore. Gururaja has been in Austin for a few years and helped me with various things, including grocery shopping! Balaji, another from my hostel, joined us in the last one month. In a way I am happy that Balaji did not join us any sooner, because I am sure I would have gained a few pounds thanks to his culinary skills.
Of course, meeting Manju was one of the great benefits of coming to Austin. I got to relive all memories from undergrad days in Mysore. I also realized that after all these days, he has not changed in his core principles and behavior. He remains a true friend and it is good that real friendships don't go stale with time.
There are many such people because of whom I find it sad to leave Austin, in spite of the excitement of flying back home after 6 months. I can only take memories with me. Luckily memories don't consume any space in my carry-on luggage.
Speaking of luggage limits, UA has reduced carry-on luggage limits, putting in in great discomfort. I hope they take pity on me tomorrow at the airport. I am all set for the looooong flight back home, starting tomorrow.
Of course, meeting Manju was one of the great benefits of coming to Austin. I got to relive all memories from undergrad days in Mysore. I also realized that after all these days, he has not changed in his core principles and behavior. He remains a true friend and it is good that real friendships don't go stale with time.
There are many such people because of whom I find it sad to leave Austin, in spite of the excitement of flying back home after 6 months. I can only take memories with me. Luckily memories don't consume any space in my carry-on luggage.
Speaking of luggage limits, UA has reduced carry-on luggage limits, putting in in great discomfort. I hope they take pity on me tomorrow at the airport. I am all set for the looooong flight back home, starting tomorrow.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Gas prices and SUVs
America's long love affair with monsterous trucks and SUVs now appears to be headed for an end. Over the last few decades, the low gas prices resulted in nobody caring about gas mileage. Ford and GM built bigger and bigger SUVs every year, until it was difficult to distinguish a Chevy SUV from a FedEx delivery vehicle. These vehicles gave roughly as much gas mileage as a typical BMTC bus. I am sure NASA did more research about making their space shuttles more fuel efficient than GM and Ford about their cars.
In this year's summer gas prices went up to more than 3.5 dollars per gallon, shocking the people who had just a few years back had thought paying 1.6 dollars was too much. This made the people think radically and take some unbelievable decisions, like switching to cars! (No, people are not yet thinking of using public transport). Suddenly they realised that the Toyota or Honda sedan that they never thought of driving could cut their gas bill by half! So sales of Honda and Toyota cars is increasing rapidly. GM is realizing that they never invested in making their cars more efficient. They always thought president Bush would wage another war in the Gulf to bring down the gas prices, but this time it is not happening in spite of the war. Honda and Toyota are smiling, thinking about the research they have been doing about hybrid engines.
Though it may seem like high gas prices hurts the US, it is good in the long term. It is forcing the US car makers to think about fuel efficiency and it is making the US consumers aware of this issue. As biggeest consumer of petroleum in the world, any such effort by US will help the whole world. I hope people in the US switch to smaller cars and all cars run 50 miles per gallon in a few years.
In this year's summer gas prices went up to more than 3.5 dollars per gallon, shocking the people who had just a few years back had thought paying 1.6 dollars was too much. This made the people think radically and take some unbelievable decisions, like switching to cars! (No, people are not yet thinking of using public transport). Suddenly they realised that the Toyota or Honda sedan that they never thought of driving could cut their gas bill by half! So sales of Honda and Toyota cars is increasing rapidly. GM is realizing that they never invested in making their cars more efficient. They always thought president Bush would wage another war in the Gulf to bring down the gas prices, but this time it is not happening in spite of the war. Honda and Toyota are smiling, thinking about the research they have been doing about hybrid engines.
Though it may seem like high gas prices hurts the US, it is good in the long term. It is forcing the US car makers to think about fuel efficiency and it is making the US consumers aware of this issue. As biggeest consumer of petroleum in the world, any such effort by US will help the whole world. I hope people in the US switch to smaller cars and all cars run 50 miles per gallon in a few years.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
FF 1.5
Mozilla Firefox 1.5 is out! I have been using this browser since, may be, a couple of centuries, when it started out as 'Phoenix' beta1. They changed the name to Firebird (still vaguely meant phoenix), because somebody had a copyright on the name 'Phoenix'. Later they found that Firebird was also taken, so they changed it to 'Mozilla Firefox'. Luckily it stopped there, otherwise we would have had to use a browser named Firedog or Firecat or Firerat, which would have been very un-cool.
I dutifully downloaded 1.5 version immediately and tested it out. It looks the same UI-wise, but the beast inside seems to be faster. But I am not moving just yet from my 1.06 version. I want all my favorite extensions to be available on 1.5 before I move. Also it would be nice to have an rpm compiled for FC3 ;-) I may have to wait another week for that.
I dutifully downloaded 1.5 version immediately and tested it out. It looks the same UI-wise, but the beast inside seems to be faster. But I am not moving just yet from my 1.06 version. I want all my favorite extensions to be available on 1.5 before I move. Also it would be nice to have an rpm compiled for FC3 ;-) I may have to wait another week for that.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Shop like a man
No, you don't hear this very often. Shopping is often attributed to women, because only they can visit 10 stores to buy a handbag, find good ones in at least 5 of those stores but still walk out without buying one to the 11th store. Men are often known to dread shopping. It is even considered 'unmanly' to admit that we like shopping.
But I am more and more convinced now-a-days that men are not too behind in this artform. It is true that we men don't visit too many shops, nor are we very good at window shopping. Ours is more of a targeted attack - we know what we need before we enter the store, we find the shortest way to reach the counter in question and just go for the kill. We men consider ourselves especially knowledgeable about electronics stuff. We pretend to make wise and informed decisions about buying high-tech stuff. (Oh boy, this toaster is both firewire and bluetooth enabled. I must buy it). But ask a man to buy non-electronics stuff like handbags, jewelry or beauty care products and see him be as clueless as Lalu after recent elections.
So in essence, I think both men and women spend equal amount of money on buying things we don't need, but we men do it much more efficiently without wasting a lot of time visiting tens of stores ;-)
But I am more and more convinced now-a-days that men are not too behind in this artform. It is true that we men don't visit too many shops, nor are we very good at window shopping. Ours is more of a targeted attack - we know what we need before we enter the store, we find the shortest way to reach the counter in question and just go for the kill. We men consider ourselves especially knowledgeable about electronics stuff. We pretend to make wise and informed decisions about buying high-tech stuff. (Oh boy, this toaster is both firewire and bluetooth enabled. I must buy it). But ask a man to buy non-electronics stuff like handbags, jewelry or beauty care products and see him be as clueless as Lalu after recent elections.
So in essence, I think both men and women spend equal amount of money on buying things we don't need, but we men do it much more efficiently without wasting a lot of time visiting tens of stores ;-)
Monday, November 28, 2005
Last week in Austin
This is my last week in Austin before I travel back to India next Sunday. When I started here 6 months back I had never imagined I would end up liking this place so much. It is one of the newer tech capitals of the US, a place with moderate climate for most of the year, one of the safer cities, a city with enough desis to ensure we get good Indian food and grocery ;-) and a place to meet some of my old friends. I am surely sad to leave Austin, though I am happy to go back to Bangalore. It is amazing how I can be both happy and sad at the same time. I am a nostalgic person and I am sure Austin will be a big part of the nostalgia in the days to come.
Black Friday
With the thanksgiving weekend, the holiday season begins in the US. This season is the favorite of retailers, because this is when people shop like crazy. You ask me whether it is any different during rest of the year? Hmm... yeah, but not much!
This thanksgiving weekend I decided to join the shopping mela, so that I do my bit to help the economy. Country's that is, not mine. I had distant memories of trying my luck at a day-after-thanksgiving sale in Salt Lake City 5 years back. I had gone to Wal-mart at 8AM and had found such a mad rush, there was absolutely no way I could get into the store, leave alone shop. So I knew I had to go early, but I was not prepared for what Gururaja told me - reach our neighborhood electronics shop "Fry's" at 3:30 in the morning! Fry's was running a 'Black Friday' sale on Friday, where many electronic items were selling with 'deep discounts'. This is when a typical shopper feels obliged to buy things he/she doesn't need, because after all, they are on sale. I used to think that most people, after eating turkey the previous day, wouldn't even be able to wake up by 3:30, but decided to trust Gururaja's advice, coming out of experience.
When we made it to Fry's at 3:30 I could not believe my eyes - the queue was already around 100 meters long! Some people seemed to have arrived with tremendous preparation - camping chairs, food, water, etc. It appeared to me that some had camped there since Halloween. By 4AM, it was difficult to find parking in the vast parking area. The store opened at 5AM and people rushed inside like they were running for their lives. I wasn't far behind, and luckily, I was able to get the stuff I was looking for. But the checkout queue was at least 10 times longer than a typical queue for 'darshan' at a temple in India. This shopping was nothing like the one typically enjoyed by women - browse 100 shops and in exceptional cases, may be buy at one. This was instead for the sophisticated male shopper. One had to know his targets in the store well in advance (having studied the catalogs), run as fast as possible without caring for any bodily injuries incurred or inflicted on others and go for the kill as soon as the target is in sight.
Rest of my day was spent visiting other shopping malls and stores, but nothing like the initial burst of 5 to 11AM shopping, when many stores look like K.R.Market. I read that the retailers have expressed optimism about how the holiday season is gonna go for them this year. This is a funny time of the year - if the shopping season goes well, the retailers are happy, product manufacturers are happy and not to mention, customers are also happy! But common sense says not all of them can be happy at the same time, such a win-win situation doesn't apply to sales. But the shopping season is when common sense of shoppers takes a hibernation. And economy booms :-)
This thanksgiving weekend I decided to join the shopping mela, so that I do my bit to help the economy. Country's that is, not mine. I had distant memories of trying my luck at a day-after-thanksgiving sale in Salt Lake City 5 years back. I had gone to Wal-mart at 8AM and had found such a mad rush, there was absolutely no way I could get into the store, leave alone shop. So I knew I had to go early, but I was not prepared for what Gururaja told me - reach our neighborhood electronics shop "Fry's" at 3:30 in the morning! Fry's was running a 'Black Friday' sale on Friday, where many electronic items were selling with 'deep discounts'. This is when a typical shopper feels obliged to buy things he/she doesn't need, because after all, they are on sale. I used to think that most people, after eating turkey the previous day, wouldn't even be able to wake up by 3:30, but decided to trust Gururaja's advice, coming out of experience.
When we made it to Fry's at 3:30 I could not believe my eyes - the queue was already around 100 meters long! Some people seemed to have arrived with tremendous preparation - camping chairs, food, water, etc. It appeared to me that some had camped there since Halloween. By 4AM, it was difficult to find parking in the vast parking area. The store opened at 5AM and people rushed inside like they were running for their lives. I wasn't far behind, and luckily, I was able to get the stuff I was looking for. But the checkout queue was at least 10 times longer than a typical queue for 'darshan' at a temple in India. This shopping was nothing like the one typically enjoyed by women - browse 100 shops and in exceptional cases, may be buy at one. This was instead for the sophisticated male shopper. One had to know his targets in the store well in advance (having studied the catalogs), run as fast as possible without caring for any bodily injuries incurred or inflicted on others and go for the kill as soon as the target is in sight.
Rest of my day was spent visiting other shopping malls and stores, but nothing like the initial burst of 5 to 11AM shopping, when many stores look like K.R.Market. I read that the retailers have expressed optimism about how the holiday season is gonna go for them this year. This is a funny time of the year - if the shopping season goes well, the retailers are happy, product manufacturers are happy and not to mention, customers are also happy! But common sense says not all of them can be happy at the same time, such a win-win situation doesn't apply to sales. But the shopping season is when common sense of shoppers takes a hibernation. And economy booms :-)
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Funny news of the day
I happened to see too many funny news today, so I can't resist blogging about it.
First of all, a woman tried to open the door of a flight while it was flying! Apparently she wanted to smoke and it said "No smoking" inside the flight.
Next, I saw an interesting news about a scam by match.com and Yahoo personals. match.com "wrote him romantic emails and even sent him on a sham date with an attractive employee to encourage him to renew his subscription". Huh, he got a date with an attractive woman (I assume it was a woman, website doesn't mention explicitly), but he is still complaining? What else did he expect from match.com anyway?
The last piece comes from our neighbor across the border. As I was reading cricket news from Pakistan, I saw that there was more explosive action in the stands than on the pitch. "The England innings was suspended for nine minutes when a gas cylinder exploded in front of a packed stand." Oh man, what was the gas cylinder doing in the stand? Reading further, "It was purely accidental. The explosion occurred because a carbonated gas cylinder exploded as it could not take the pressure, senior police official Amin Watoo told Reuters." Hmm... a lot of explosive action under high pressure conditions.
First of all, a woman tried to open the door of a flight while it was flying! Apparently she wanted to smoke and it said "No smoking" inside the flight.
Next, I saw an interesting news about a scam by match.com and Yahoo personals. match.com "wrote him romantic emails and even sent him on a sham date with an attractive employee to encourage him to renew his subscription". Huh, he got a date with an attractive woman (I assume it was a woman, website doesn't mention explicitly), but he is still complaining? What else did he expect from match.com anyway?
The last piece comes from our neighbor across the border. As I was reading cricket news from Pakistan, I saw that there was more explosive action in the stands than on the pitch. "The England innings was suspended for nine minutes when a gas cylinder exploded in front of a packed stand." Oh man, what was the gas cylinder doing in the stand? Reading further, "It was purely accidental. The explosion occurred because a carbonated gas cylinder exploded as it could not take the pressure, senior police official Amin Watoo told Reuters." Hmm... a lot of explosive action under high pressure conditions.
50 posts!
I just realized I have made 50 entries in my blog, this is in fact 51st! When I began I had not thought I would reach this 'milestone'!
Friday, November 18, 2005
Thanksgiving lunch
Today there was a unique event at office. I think it happens at all offices in the US during this time. It is the annual thanksgiving lunch, a free lunches provided by the employers. Needless to say, employees make maximum use of it.
Today our annual thanksgiving lunch was at 11:30AM. Unfortunately my breakfast wasnt't even be half digested by then. But as all loyal employees, I did not want to miss the lunch. After all, it was free! A few of us reached the cafeteria at around 11:25AM. In fact we just _tried to_ reach the cafeteria, but could not go anywhere near it. That is because, by then the queue for free lunch had grown so long, it appeared that the end of the queue was somewhere near Houston. All the people, including the ones who complain about the quality of food in cafeteria looked to be in the queue. My veggie lunch obviously excluded the traditional thanksgiving turkey, so it was like going to MTR and not eating dosas. (or buying rice-sambar in a Gujju restaurant;)) The live music and the cheerful atmosphere made the lunch enjoyable. While asking for veggie lunch today, I became nostalgic about my life at Salt Lake City 5 years back. I and my friend were the _only_ vegetarians in the *whole* office during then! But the lady who managed the cafeteria never forgot to get two special veggie meals for us. People gifted us wonderful home-made cakes and pies during these festivals. Hmm.... those were the days!
Today our annual thanksgiving lunch was at 11:30AM. Unfortunately my breakfast wasnt't even be half digested by then. But as all loyal employees, I did not want to miss the lunch. After all, it was free! A few of us reached the cafeteria at around 11:25AM. In fact we just _tried to_ reach the cafeteria, but could not go anywhere near it. That is because, by then the queue for free lunch had grown so long, it appeared that the end of the queue was somewhere near Houston. All the people, including the ones who complain about the quality of food in cafeteria looked to be in the queue. My veggie lunch obviously excluded the traditional thanksgiving turkey, so it was like going to MTR and not eating dosas. (or buying rice-sambar in a Gujju restaurant;)) The live music and the cheerful atmosphere made the lunch enjoyable. While asking for veggie lunch today, I became nostalgic about my life at Salt Lake City 5 years back. I and my friend were the _only_ vegetarians in the *whole* office during then! But the lady who managed the cafeteria never forgot to get two special veggie meals for us. People gifted us wonderful home-made cakes and pies during these festivals. Hmm.... those were the days!
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Expensive haircuts
Indians visiting the US quickly learn about the cost of living here. In recent years, people from Bangalore visiting smaller cities in mid-west US do not get very surprised when they see price tags at stores. Heck, this time around I felt that Bangalore is costlier than Austin for most daily use items. (Of course, you aren't making the mistake of comparing the price inDollars against equivalent Rupees, are you?). It is not just about petrol, for which we 'poor' Indians pay twice as much asAmericans do. But when it comes to anything involving manual labor, there is no comparison in costs! India is order of times cheaper. Of course, cost of whatever we have in large quantities will be lower. We have a lot of people!
One of the best examples of this is the cost of a haircut. I have seen desis who, even after having lived in US for 5-10 years, still plan for two haircuts during their 1-month India visit - one just after landing and one just before leaving India. So when they land, they normally have enough hair on their head to appear in Dabur Amla hair oil ad, and while leaving, just enough not to show their skulls. So desis still find the cost of a haircut unfathomable. Another complaint I have is the quality of haircut. After having paid 13 dollars for the haircut and 2 dollars in tips, I am disappointed with the skill level shown by the hair cutters. They have diplomas in hair cutting, for godsake! Oh, I may be missing something. They may be preserving their skills for the 'special' haircuts I see in their catalogues. But I am not going to spend upward of 20$ for a haircut!
May be one day hair cuts will be outsourced from the US. The only hurdle is finding a way to get the haircut done over a telephone line running all the way to India.
One of the best examples of this is the cost of a haircut. I have seen desis who, even after having lived in US for 5-10 years, still plan for two haircuts during their 1-month India visit - one just after landing and one just before leaving India. So when they land, they normally have enough hair on their head to appear in Dabur Amla hair oil ad, and while leaving, just enough not to show their skulls. So desis still find the cost of a haircut unfathomable. Another complaint I have is the quality of haircut. After having paid 13 dollars for the haircut and 2 dollars in tips, I am disappointed with the skill level shown by the hair cutters. They have diplomas in hair cutting, for godsake! Oh, I may be missing something. They may be preserving their skills for the 'special' haircuts I see in their catalogues. But I am not going to spend upward of 20$ for a haircut!
May be one day hair cuts will be outsourced from the US. The only hurdle is finding a way to get the haircut done over a telephone line running all the way to India.
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