I 'm Back!!!

Its once again been long since I updated with any posts. Well, there is a reason to it. If you are keep track of the previous posts, you may already know that I had gone to India to get married. So yes, the day came and went by and now I am not single anymore. Being back, we have settled into routine and looking for a new place to stay, so its kind of exciting looking forward to new things.
Yes, by the way my experience with Air India was good and I did not have any tragedy with my bags this time around.
Oh and we did not go to Kerela.We didn't really have the time to go in the opposite direction. But we did go to Darjeeling. It is really a nice place. The best months to go there are October when the skies are clear and you can see all the snow covered peaks, plus it won't be that cold too.
Another thing is that I watched the fourth Harry Potter movie. Its great especially the special effects. I saw it at IMAX so it was doubly fun.

Toral, The Snob

Yesterday, after watching the Trump Apprentice, it is becoming more and more evident that it doesn't take too much intellect or personality to be successful and earn millions. On the other hand, it also provides proof that being educated from one of the topmost business schools or any such education institution does not necessarily mean you are the best and the brightest. Toral, the Indian girl on the reality TV show was a perfect example of this. But she is not the first and she will definitely not be the last. Since the first Apprentice, the quality of the candidates has been deteriorating. For this season I read here, that Trump had himself interviewed 17 of the 18 candidates. Didn't make much difference I say, especially with the women. The guys more or less are decent, but the girls - phew!! They just can't get over the sorority, popularity stuff.
There are two sides to this post here. One is about the other girls on the team. From the beginning, since they didn't get to boot Toral out last week, they have been ganging against her. I did see a hint of some "ism" in there. But anyways, you would expect these women being successful individuals on their own would have some common sense so as to focus on the job. That is the number one rule in any successful task. Don't lose sight of your goal. In a way, they did not. Their goal was to send Toral home and they did win, rightly said by this piece. Last week's loss was not Toral's fault and so her friend did defend her.
But Toral is one of the snobbiest people I have seen on the show and this is the second side. I would have loved to see her succeed, but thank god that did not happen. She is so into herself that everybody around her are like microscopic creatures to her. That attitude is just so wrong. I don't know how the Wharton graduate could be so condescending towards others. I think her biggest problem was not being a team player. I agreed with her on certain issues like not being part of a popularity contest, but her attitude just got under my skin. No wonder the other girls hated her and she sure will be featured on the "Reality TV's Most Hated Girls".
Being an Indian, toral's attitude did make me angry. And her pseudo personal,cultural and religious reasons were exposed in no time. Raj, from the second season was so much better and indeed a smart individual. He did make mistakes and accepted them but he at no point insulted the others. I think that is one of the most important qualities a human being needs to possess.

Sixteen and counting?

Today I came across this post on CNN about Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar's sixteenth child. Yes, its not a typo, its their 16th child in 17 years since their first and all conceived on their own. That makes an entire cricket team with stand-ins. I am very sensitive when it comes to matters regarding population. It maybe because I am from India, a country where population explosion has been out of control. In some ways it has been a boon when it comes to BPOs and outsourcing but more often than not, it has been a curse. Millions of people without enough resources to sustain daily life.
Anyways, this is not about India, its about choices people make. I agree, that being someone who would stand for US Senate, Jim Duggar is not short of any resources. I am sure they are able to take very good care of their children. And ofcourse its a free country where people can make whatever choices they want and pursue whatever makes them happy. Population is not a problem in the US, so we don't really need to control it. I am not lobbying to introduce any drastic measures like China(one child policy) or even softer measures like India(Government officials who have more than two kids lose their jobs). But think just once before you decide about having more than a dozen children. Think about those millions of orphans in places like Africa and Asia. They are starving to death and do not have anybody to love them. Their parents have mostly died of deadly diseases like AIDS. Will these children ever get a chance to live a life that we here take for granted? I am sure many of these kids are bright individuals who if given a chance would shine in whatever skills they have a flair for.
Could a resourceful family like the Duggars not adopt half the number of kids they have. They say they love children, then why not adopt some. Why not give a child the chance to the American Dream. I think all those children are God-sent, then why are some left to die of starvation and deadly diseases? It is not necessary to have a cross-country, cross-cultural adoption. There are enough children in this country who would meet any prospective adopters profile.
I did come across the Duggar Family website where they do answer the question, why they have so many kids. The basis are obviously religious and I am no one to oppose that. My only concern is that we as human beings with more brain power have been given this education so as to make sensible decisions. So where do you draw the line?
I really admire Angelina Jolie for this very reason. She just received a humanitarian award from the UN and she does deserve it. At a mere age of 30, she has achieved a lot, the top being a savior to two cute little kids who now have the opportunity for a great life. Yesterday I came across this stupid article about politicians and celebrities exchanging roles which undermines what Angelina has done. What does the writer of the story think about himself. Has he ever done anything close to what celebrities like Jolie, Pitt and Bono have done?
I hope to adopt a child one day. I believe that if I have the power to make atleast one child's life better then I should.

Time to say 'I Do'

Its been a while since I put my thoughts in here. Just have been bit busy with some guests and then shopping around. There is an announcement to be made - I am getting married to my long time sweet heart next month. My dream is finally come true after five amazing years of togetherness. As the day comes nearer, the feeling is setting in. The marriage is in November in India and we will be flying there next month. Hence all the shopping and stuff, though I don't really have to buy anything for the wedding itself. My parents will take care of that back home. That's how it is with us Indians, we just go and get married.
It will be a hectic four weeks with some other cousins getting married. We plan to visit Kerela, let's see how that materializes. I wanted to visit 'God's own country' since long.
Hope to get back into the writing groove soon.
Ciao!

Sania Mirza - Dress properly?

I came across this news article on Sania Mirza titled Dress properly Sania: Maulvis. In this they are asking that because Sania hails from a conservative muslim background, she should not wear short skirts and tight t-shirts when playing tennis. She should wear long pants and shirts with full sleeves. They believe that this is a sport and not a fashion parade. This is just too much. People sometimes just go too far with their beliefs. I am an Indian and very proud of Sania. She has not dressed too badly so far. She wears t-shirts and shorts and not more revealing stuff like some other tennis players. I am sure she is very religious and conservative and must have felt uncomfortable at first to wear the shorts skirts that show so much leg. But in sports where there is so much constant stretching and running, clothes that do not inhibit your movement are a must. The article also mentioned that her father has requested the tennis association for different cuts but apparently, sweat shirts, sweat pants etc are not allowed. Don't know why that is but maybe it is for the player's advantage. When you are constantly running around, the body heat rises rapidly and if you are wearing clothes that do not let you cool off fast, you are more likely to get fatigued. I know this because when I started working out, I used to feel odd wearing shorts in public, so I used to wear pants with a half sleeves tshirt. But doing 20-30 minutes of intense cardio was not easy. After sometime, when I shifted to shorts and sleeveless tees, it became so much easier and comfortable. I used to get cooled off so much faster which allowed me to work out longer.
Give Sania a break, she is just a teenager yet and fast becoming an international celebrity. Feelings of religion and conservativeness are not in the clothes but in the mind and heart. As long as she is true to her background and beliefs with her thoughts, her clothes are not important. They are just necessary to her sport. I have always seen her in modest clothes outside of the tennis court pictures.
Sania, I am proud of your achievements and I am sure every Indian is.

Katrina's Havoc

You must have seen the July 2005 flood pictures I posted of Mumbai. I think people of Mumbai will feel good about their situation compared to what people are facing in New Orleans. The city is totally under water. The pictures on every news site are just overwhelming. I just hope that everything comes to normal sooner than later. They say that the city will be non-functional for 2-3 months. Thousands of people have had their lives disrupted, no jobs, no schools and no houses to stay in. I am sure there is a lesson to be learnt from all this. First, Don't play with nature. Second, Avoid erecting cities in places which are prone to such disasters. The fact that New Orleans is 20 Ft below sea level and surrounded by water bodies is enough to predicate such a situation. And third and the most important one, Evacuate when a hurricane is knocking at your door. No matter how strong your house maybe, doesn't matter if it withstood some damn hurricane years ago. Even if the winds don't blow away your house, floods are always possible. Plus no electricity, drinking water and supplies. It makes sense to just get out of ground Zero.
People are saying that it looks like a third world country. Very True. But let me tell you that such a huge natural calamity can take down the mightiest. The sad part is all the looting and violence. That I would think happens only in developing nations. But I now know that it happens out of desperation. People are similar all over the world. Hunger and poverty make you do things you shouldn't. I just hope people act sensibly and stop all this.

Crazy Fat Woman!!

I read this article where a woman filed a complaint over her doctor's advice to lose weight.
This is just plain ridiculous. What have people come to. Just because you are free to sue and complain, you do it on useless points. Who else is going to advice you on something that is dangerous to your health and life. This woman is crazy. And the poor doctor even apologized. He was just trying to make her understand that she would face more health risks and maybe a shorter life if she did not lose weight and she got angry. I understand it might be hurtful because women especially, never like to hear that they are overweight. I am sure even a 120 lb. woman will get angry if you say to her that she seemed to have gained a pound. But to file a complaint?? What next, Sue?
Someone I know is overweight and this person ate everything, especially deserts and ate out every single day. One day, the person could not breathe while walking back to the car. That is when the light bulb went off and losing weight became a priority. I am sure nobody wants to reach the point when you fear the end of your life. And I applaud this person for taking control.
Sometimes it is just weird, people know something is bad for their health like obesity, smoking or drinking but they never stop doing it. Is this the human nature?

Lazy week crawling by

From the lack of activity here, it should be evident that I am either in a cave or just out of ideas for good posts. Well actually I may have some ideas, but then they are generally related to the current issues and being strongly opinionated, I did not want to sound too bitchy out here. Anyone who is a regular here would think I always speak about issues that are anti-US but that is far from the truth. I generally take up anything I feel is wrong. Of course that might just be me. But the important thing is that there are hundreds of more things I love about USA and that is why I am here. To list everything out would become too long, so lets leave it at that.
Anyway, this week I haven't cooked 2 nights so far. Today I watched the remaining half of Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason. I have so much more to do but the monster television eats up most of my time. I am learning a new Indian language and I haven't done my lessons since a long time. Need to do a lot of revision. For those of you who aren't aware, India has more than 15 officially recognized languages and greater than 1600 dialects. That was the Trivia of the Day for you.

Shuttle Discovery takes a ride home!!!

I saw the video of Shuttle Discovery being flown back to Florida. It was such a great shot. Here are a couple of pictures from the NASA website that show how the shuttle was flown over a 747. Just Awesome!!

American schools dump coke, pepsi

I read this article and I thought, well that's a beginning. Finally authorities and people who have an indirect hand in making people fat are taking a different approach. I hope this will really help the coming generation of school kids. Don't know if today's kids will actually like this but if they don't have a choice they will have to get used to the healthier option. I hope wending machines everywhere start stocking juices and low-calorie, low-fat options. Even in high schools, universities and offices, people should be given an option to choose something that will benefit them.
It is just so difficult to resist temptation sometimes. Yesterday, when I went to see the movie Red Eye, I happened to pass by a candy store right next to the movie hall. It seemed like a family run store. There were hundreds of variety of all kinds of candy. Man, what would happen to a child if he/she is put inside that store. I am sure they would come out buying more than I did. :(.
As for the movie, it was pretty decent. A bit boring at start but got interesting later on. Did finish fast though.

"Someone" won't let me watch Food Network

Well, here I am early from work today because I skipped gym. Didn't feel like going, just want to chillout today and the rest of the weekend. So sat on the couch and changed the channel to Food Network. Somehow if there is nothing else on TV, I can watch whatever is cooking on Food Network. Not absolutely anything, but Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals, Alton Brown's Good Eats, Unwrapped, Secret Life of... etc. It's just fun besides learning something by chance. Most of the time they cook red meat which I don't eat. I only have chicken and maybe fish and shrimps. Anyway, so still it's interesting. But well the channel was flipped on me (By "someone" of course) as soon as I got up to put my pineapple back into the fridge. So I thought here is a good chance to write a post about this. As if I had an alternative!!!
Sometime back I had read an article about Rachel Ray which says that there are entire blogs on criticizing her. The article is pretty good and it defends Ray. In my opinion she is pretty decent. She may not be fancy but she seems practical. In contrast, I feel Emeril is more of a showy cook than of substance. Or its maybe that I just don't like what he comes up with. But I absolutely love Alton Brown. He is really funny and his show Good Eats gives a lot of good tips and tricks. And well ofcourse, there are always the other shows about contests and the new Italian chic who I don't really think is that great. But well, I don't get to watch FoodTV too often as it gets beaten by TBS most of the time especially by the re-re-re-runs of Seinfeld.
So well here is my Friday evening for you. I will be going out later tonight with "someone" to eat at a fast food Mexican place and then catch a movie, most probably Red Eye. Seems to have got good reviews.

Rising Gas prices

I came across this article on cnn.com today about Walmart's worry over the rising oil prices diminishing their sales. I believe it's not just Walmart but every major retail company is going to face the same situation. Consumers are going to lessen their spending due to higher portion of their budgets going towards gas. According to one of those useless polls, it says more Americans are worried about rising gas prices affecting them in the future. Is that rocket science? It also says, people in lower-middle income groups will face more problems, again doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Unless you are Donald Trump, I am sure you are worried about your escalating gas station bills.
So is there a solution, is there a cap on the gas prices? People in the USA do not realize that they have been paying one of the lowest gas prices compared to other countries. They have had it very easy so far. Even the prices now, though they seem high are actually coming to par with what the rest of the world pays. Well we can argue that we drive more cars and for longer distances and hence we feel the difference. But I think it has been a viscous circle. Because fuel prices were so low all these years, people started relying more on cars to take them places, even take road trips compared to flying at exorbitant rates. Then people started buying bigger, bulkier cars and SUVs and didn't think twice about the mileage on them. This is now biting them in the wrong place.
I think we have to reduce our dependence on cars and hence fuels which are in limited supply on our planet. We have to go for hybrid cars and till that becomes common, we have to learn to carpool. In Phoenix, AZ people are encouraged to carpool because of the high ozone problem. Employees are even given incentives to carpool like closer parking spaces and monetary benefits. People who travel more than 10 miles one way should especially find a riding partner. I am sure that is saving a lot of gas over a year besides keeping the air slightly cleaner.
Our fossil fuels are going to burn out one day and you may say that you are not going to be around then, but think about the future generations. We have a moral responsibility to keep our environment clean and healthy for everyone on this Planet.

Air travel safe or not??

Lately, there have been so many plane crashes or mishaps. I remember it all started when I heard about the Air India plane skidding on Mumbai airport due to so much rain and water. But fortunately not much damage was done. Then maybe a week later, we heard about the Air France plane skidding off the runway. Passengers were lucky to escape but the plane did catch fire. Then comes the Cypriot plane crash in Greece where all 121 passengers and crew aboard died. It is still kind of a mystery as to why the plane crashed. They say cabin pressure fell and most people had become unconscious or actually died before the actual plane crashed. That's just eerie!! And then not even 3 days later, we hear about the West Caribbean Airways aircraft crashing killing all 160 aboard. This is just too much. Seems like there might be a slump in the aviation industry again if this happens so regurarly. I am sure people need to go places, but then people will be more scared too. This to me just feels like an X-files episode with aliens playing tricks.
Air travel should be safer because of our increasing reliance on this mode of transportation. With bigger aircrafts like the Airbus A380 coming into the picture, more care needs to be taken because there are more lives at stake within a single aircraft.
I just hope all the people who have lost their loved ones have the courage to continue with life. I hope God gives them courage to deal with the trauma!

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire Mistake

According to The Leaky Cauldron website, fans have noticed a blunder in the promos of the new Harry Potter movie. In the Goblet of Fire, to quote from the website, "Harry is shown standing in front of a grave with three names written on in, including one that reads "Tom Marvolo Riddle 1915-1943". As we know, that is the name of Lord Voldemort,and who, despite his err unnatural state at the beginning of the sequence of Goblet of Fire, was not buried in that grave. He also did not kill the Riddles until 1944 or 1945. Readers have also pointed out that even if this was the name of Voldemort's father, then he would have only been 11 years old when Voldemort was born." Read more here.

Amazing Sand Art

I was cleaning up my inbox when I found an old mail about sand sculptures that are intricately done. They are really so cool, that I thought I should share them with you all here. I am sure whoever has done them has immense talent. Unfortunately, I don't have any links for this one.

More Sand Art

Because all the pictures don't fit in one post, here are some more.

3D paintings on pavement

While browsing on the internet, I came across one site which had pictures of these amazing 3D paintings done on pavement. If you look at these from a particular view point, they look so real and life like. I have some sample pictures here that I found from the site about Julian Beever who does these paintings. Be sure to visit for more breathtaking paintings.

One of the latest ones, I believe.

This is when viewed from a wrong angle.

Politicians Meeting Their End

This has to be viewed using an inverting mirror.

And finally, what we all love..

My Top Ten Workout Songs

Sometime back when I got my new Ipod, a gift from someone special, I was looking to load songs that make my workouts fun. I try and go to the gym regurarly but I get bored listening to the radio especially when doing cardio. One, there are more ads than songs and two, not all the songs are paced well for aerobic workouts. So I searched for good workout songs online and did find a few but not all were to my liking. So I have compiled my own top ten here from my collection of fast paced songs in both English and Hindi. These songs get a place in the countdown because they encourage you to continue when you are tired and thinking of stepping off that treadmill or stepper. So here it goes...

10. Tubthumping - Chumbawamba
9. Angel Eyes - Raghav
8. Are you gonna be my girl - Jet
7. To Brazil - Vengaboys
6. Uns Dos Tres - Ricky Martin
5. Toxic - Britney Spears
4. Lets get it started - Black Eyed Peas
3. Maximum Overdrive - 2 Unlimited
2. Because you can can can - Fatboy Slim
.
.
.
1. Schumacher - DJ Visage

There you have it. I know there might be more songs out there that I have not heard but this is my list for now.
Hope you enjoy these and happy working out!!

My new techie blog

Hello Everyone!!

I have created another blog. This will be the techie me and is aptly named CoolTechGirl. I will be posting any ideas, solutions or cool techie stuff I find, on this blog. I am currently working with VB.NET and learning ASP.NET in C#, so I am sure I will come across lots of issues. Hope this helps anyone who has a hard time searching through user groups. Most of my solutions may still come from there, but I am hoping to consolidate them into this one space. Plus, keeping a log of it allows me to remember it rather than just get wiped out from my memory after its use.
Do visit http://cooltechgirl.blogspot.com.
Happy Teching!!

Havoc in Mumbai

Bombay is facing one of its worst monsoons in the century with over 37 inches of rain in a single day. This is just too much. I remember in monsoon 2000 when it rained 20 inches in ahmedabad and everything was just flooded. The basement shopping complexes to parking lots were just full of water. Worse is the situation in Mumbai and with rains still going on, the whole communication has gone out of gear. One wonders how to deal with such catastrophic disasters. Can one be prepared especially in a city like Mumbai with such a huge population. I really feel sad for those whose houses were washed away and belongings destroyed but my heart goes out to people who succumbed to nature's fury. May everyone get the courage to deal with difficult times.
I was emailed some photos of this unbelievable force of nature, which I thought I can just put up here. With being in US and having no video of such things, these pictures showed my the gravity of the situation.

More Mumbai Pics

More pictures of Mumbai rains

With great power...

"With Great Power comes Great Responsibility", this is a famous line from Spiderman, the movie. Or at least where I heard it first. The second time I heard it was from my friend who does not fully agree with my blog In Defense of Salman Khan. And I do agree with him that famous people, be it celebrities, sportsmen or politicians, all have a duty of setting good examples for the people who love or adore them. This is what they have to do because they have visibility and what they say reaches more people than a normal person trying to make this world better. For example, when Brad Pitt took up the ONE Campaign to get rid of African poverty, more people came to know the real issues of Africa than, if some non-profit organization member had done three times more work.
I believe in an ideal world this would be possible but in today's world where there are so many distractions and temptations, that a person who can sustain those is truly something more than human. And as they say "To err is human". After all these big personalities are human, they have the same desires as you and me, be it love or money. They are in a high profile profession probably because they are good at it. Yes, they have to pay the price of fame. But they do not have any super powers and they will make mistakes.

In Defense of Salman Khan

Now we have a new scoop on Salman Khan, his tape conversation with Aishwarya Rai alleging his bullying her to perform a show and boasting about his underworld links. From the transcript of the conversation it is clear that Salman Khan is drunk. From Ash's comments, it is pretty evident that she knows he is drunk and warns him about the phone being tapped. He still goes on bragging about his links and how he controls everyone. This to me clearly seems a case of drunkenness where the person is just talking nonsensical stuff. Besides if the transcript is really true, why does Aishwarya keep calling Salman, "Salman Khan". I mean anyone in a relationship, however that may be, doesn't use the full name, do they?
Anyway, I am not the cops or the investigators but somehow I feel that Salman has the knack of falling into trouble. Agreed, that he has done irresponsible things and got out of it, but why do his bad doings always get such big media attention? I am sure there are some other people who have skeletons in their closet, but they generally get away or hush up the matter. If Salman Khan does anything good, that never receives any publicity. That may be because he keeps all his charity work under wraps.
Also, the timing of this investigation seems weird, right a day before the release of his latest movie. Either it will work for the movie or against it. I do not say that people should not be punished for their wrong doings, but if that's the case, the good deeds should be highlighted.
And now we have some picture of him with Dawood Ibrahim's younger brother. Didn't Javed Miandad's son marry Dawood's eldest daughter recently. I think the Pakistan government should investigate Miandad too (b'cos its not our job). Sanjay Dutt was one who got into trouble probably by his foolishness. I can't believe he had any hand in the Bombay blasts, but then that is my opinion.
My analysis of Salman Khan is that he is good at heart but has an aggressive nature or probably a Dr Jekyll-Mr Hyde situation. What contradicts his brat image is his co-stars' opinions about him. From all the interviews I have read of heroines and directors that have worked with him, they all say one thing, that Salman Khan is the most misunderstood person in this industry.

So are we saying that all these people are liars and have links with the underworld.

I guess one really can't know. The one who knows him best is he himself and probably his family. Maybe he is a victim of political, social or communal controversies or maybe he is guilty of running over a man with his jeep or getting drunk and harassing his girl friend and her family. In the latter case, he should definitely be punished with whatever he deserves. But I would also want each man in India who abuses his wife/lover/mistress or their families for whatever reasons like dowry to be put behind bars too.

Technology and Finance

For any of you guys interested in these two fields or opinions and impressions on them, you can read the blog Technology and Finance by Sandeep. It has some good articles and information about financial issues and other general stuff. I particularly like the writing style and subtle humor.
I did find another financial site particularly for Indian IPOs through Tekfin. Visit IndianIPO for information on latest offerings in India, expert analysis, message boards, documents and much more. Your one stop shop for Indian IPOs.
One thing I am gonna try and do is make money through technology thus combining the two. That is why I have the adsense up there hoping that someone will find something useful and I will be benefited for my hours of labor on this blog.

Knowing Your Personality

Today I thought why not write something different and interactive, So that you guys post some comments back in order to receive answers to my game.
Here are a few questions, or five to be precise. For each question or rather word, write down the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of that word. Post your answers in the comment and I will tell you what these mean. Sounds good?
Oh btw, if anybody knows this game(because I am not the original inventor), please refrain from revealing these else I will be tempted to delete such comments.

Here they go...
1. Dog
2. Cat
3. Rat
4. Ocean
5. Coffee

PS If you need confidential answers, mention so.

Harry Potter is Coming!!!

For all you Harry Potter fans, the sixth book Half Blood Prince is coming next week. I am so excited. I have already pre-ordered the book at Amazon. I will have it by the 19th of July. Hope to read it fast. This is the first Harry Potter book I have bought. I have read the first five but from a friend's collection. I got hooked onto Harry about a couple of years back when the fifth book, Order of Phoenix was released. I didn't know much about HP then. I used to wonder why is this kid's book so popular. I saw the two movies first and didn't really like them so much. But when I started reading these, one by one I really came to know how good the book is. The movies didn't do justice to the book simply because the book is so detailed and it is just difficult to fit that into a movie.
J.K.Rowling has such great imagination. I wish I had something similar. She has written the book in such a way that from young to old, everyone can read it and still love it. No wonder it is the highest selling book everywhere and the pre-order numbers are so huge.
You should visit J.K.Rowling's website. I love that too. It is so well made and once again so imaginative.
So I will be waiting for Harry Potter! Don't worry I won't reveal anything about it on the blog. I don't want to spoil anyone's surprise.
Ciao!! Happy reading!!

Cricket Crazy!!

Oh!! I love this game. There was a time when I watched every match that India played and no matter what anyone said, India vs Pakistan was the biggest. It was always fun to win. But since I have been in the US, I haven't been able to follow much cricket. So many new faces in each team and so many changes. But my friend Ashwin is so crazy about the game that he keeps track of each and every thing happening in the cricket world. He is almost an expert on the game. See his blog Ramblings of a crazed cricket fan which has his view on the game and analysis better than most website cricket writers.
During my hay days as a cricket crazy fan, I wanted to become a commentator but being a girl, I never thought that could be possible. But hearing about Mandira Bedi commenting on the last World Cup was like opening up old wounds :(
Anyway, I just hope we win the next world cup with Sachin Tendulkar as a part of the team. He is the greatest and countless people can say what they want about him but no one can become him. Secondly, I wish we could watch cricket here in US on the sports channel without having to pay hundreds of dollars.

My Restful Weekend

Believe it or not, I didn't do much this weekend. That may not be too drastic for anyone but for me it is. Because most weekends, I have a routine, cleaning up my place, studying .NET stuff and going out and getting some chores done. But this weekend was cool. I slept a lot too. That also explains no posts for two days. Well I just lazed around on the couch and watched movies. I saw Troy and Manchurian Candidate on DVD. then went to see Batman Begins with a couple of friends at the IMAX. But even though it was raining, people just flocked to the movies and we did not get tickets so had to see it in a normal theatre. Also saw one Hindi movie - My Brother Nikhil. Decent movie, very sensitively made. Oh, If I don't say anything about Batman Begins, some people may get offended. Yes, the movie is pretty good. I like action, but even though this one was not hardcore action, it was good in many ways. Didn't like Katie Holmes though with her lopsided mouth. I also read a couple of books, some pages of each I mean, not the whole thing.
So well, today is Monday and it was difficult to get back to work, but have to feed myself ;-).
Next weekend won't be so restful. I am going to Orlando for the 4th of July. Yeah! My first time there. There are so many places to see, so will have to decide on a couple soon. The theme parks are so costly, another reason I need to keep working ;-)

Lack of Advertising Talent!!

This is what I feel, that the commercials in the US are just so dull, boring and sometimes outirght stupid. Back in India, we have such funny and humorous ads that sometimes we would wait for a particular commercial to come up. Even commercials with celebrities would be witty and there is always competition to win over the other guy in content and concept. Here you just mention the other company's name in bad light, and that's a commercial for you. I have noticed that about 70 percent of total commercials are either about food or restaurants and cars or car dealerships. On my God! car delearship commercials would be my worst nightmare if I was in this business.
That is not to say that all hope is lost. There are still some funny ones like the Visa credit card with all superheroes or some just cute like the quiznos baby and some more which I can't seem to remember right now.
I am a creative and artistic person by nature and therefore do expect a bit better quality commercials. According to an article yesterday on slashdot titled DoubleClick Warns Against Ad-Blocking Browsers the end of free content is near if people continue to use ad-blocking popup something similar to people going to restrooms when a commercial comes up on television. Don't even get me started on internet popups. first there used to be actual popups where a new window opened up. So companies created ad-blocking software. But now there are popups within the web page itself. For example, on rediff you always have such popups that show up for about 5 seconds and then scale down to a smaller size. So everytime I click a link to read a news article and come back, this thing shows up again covering all links. Will someone please inform me if there are any blockers for such popups.
So that's all the whining for today. Looking forward to my weekend.

A book, A guide, A path to success??

Just today, I was browsing books at the town public library when I came across a book that sure enough seemed to jump right at me, telling me to read it especially with recent interesting happenings around me. So I took a look and before even going through any of its chapters, I read the first topic which said "Why this book was written and How". Some of you may have come to know by now which book I am talking about. Yes, the book is called "How to win friends & influence people" by Dale Carnegie. The title is grasping enough.
So as I was saying, hardly had I read through the second page of the above mentioned topic, I realized that my last blog had just asked the question whether technical skills or people skills take you further. According to the author, research conducted by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Carnegie Institute of Technology revealed that "in such technical lines as engineering, about 15 percent of one's financial success is due to one's technical knowledge and about 85 percent is due to skill in human engineering - to personality and the ability to lead people". This one simple sentence says a lot and forces you to rethink. This book may have been first published in the 1930's but it sure applies today and would always.
I had to simply check it out and read it and maybe even buy it. Maybe we all are to some extent born with our human engineering skills but we need to polish them up. Maybe this book will do that for us.

Technical skills vs. People skills

A few days back I had an interesting and rather thought provoking conversation with one of my friends. My friend was looking to change his job because he was going nowhere with his current one in spite of his excellent technical knowledge, dedication and a good personality. What was more annoying is that a person with less experience of the same job but with just better speaking skills marched ahead.
Since then, I have been wondering what takes you higher, superior technical skills or outstanding people skills. I am sure you can debate for one or the other. I personally believe that it takes a right balance of both.
Talking about myself I would say that I am good at the technical stuff. My people skills are fair enough. I converse well with people when required to do so but I don’t keep jumping in and blabber away all the time. So is this the end of the ladder for me?
I am sure most of you will agree that software engineers in general are more technical than communicative. So when your company expects you to be more communicative, talkative or someone who should keep giving suggestions to the management and basically butter up, what do you do? At this point, I would start thinking those 6 years of college with an average GPA of 3.5 doesn’t really matter. You can be exceptional at your technical knowledge and skills, but you won’t climb the ladder of success unless you speak up often.
I am not against innovative, thoughtful and required communication. Like I said at the start, a right balance is always required. But if you are ignored, like my friend, because the person who has the power to promote you overlooks your contribution to the company as a developer and experience of the past years, just because you are not always under the limelight is taking it a bit too far. I believed that as long as you do your job well, meet deadlines and put in the necessary amount of time to get the product out of the door, you are good to go, But seeing that more deserving and intelligent people being surpassed by “people skilled” individuals I am forced to think again. So what is the right attitude? Will this match been won by the people skillers or the techies? Will there be justice?

My two cents on the Tom Cruise – Katie Holmes relationship

Well, I thought I should also contribute my views about the relationship between these two and how the media is handling or mis-handling it. Besides, there is so much coverage that it is hard to ignore them unless I am a cave person.
Every article I read on these two had one statement about the poll where people believe that this is a publicity stunt. According to me it might be or might not be, but who really cares. According to a Steven Spielberg interview, Tom is being punished by the media for his open declaration of love. So, I started wondering, Why is the media angry with Tom Cruise, why are they so frustrated that he is openly declaring his love, why why?
And the answer is, the media is angry because it is not making any money out of the love life of Tom Cruise and Katie Homes. Because they are not hiding the looooooove, the paparazzi cannot snap secret, one-of-a-kind pictures and demand half a million for them. Because their confessions are so public and out in the open, that all the gossip magazines do not have anything exclusive for the readers which isn't already available in print, media and on the internet.
I guess this is the price of fame, being private is a problem and going public is a bigger problem.
I guess to some extent we all love to hear gossip about celebrities but the media here just takes it too far. Day in and out they just focus on one lousy story. Don't believe me, what about the "runaway bride", "brangelina" and many more. There are bigger and more adverse problems in this world about which most of the american people are unaware.

The ONE Campaign

Today I was watching the Brad Pitt interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC primetime. And maybe I was just watching it because of all the media frenzy over Brad Pitt or maybe because he is too cute to miss, but I learnt something, saw something which touched my heart. The whole part about his trip to Africa to help the children, the statistics about medicine, education and just the money required to improve the life of African children was overwhelming.
You can find something about this interview at http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=813282&page=1
Only $16 can help fund education of a child in Africa for an ENTIRE year. That's how much most Americans spend on eating out each day. In July, big nations of the world are going to meet to decide about changing the face of Africa, to fund them and provide support. The ONE campaign is about that. Lend your support by signing the declaration at http://www.one.org/ActionSignup.aspx
Each of us can do something more, something that makes us feel better about ourselves. Signing this declaration can just be a beginning. Sometimes we want to help, but we just forget in our daily routine. I am that person too. I have this wish to adopt a child, give someone a future they could not have. Give them a life that I can give because I have the resources. I am from India, where there is still poverty and maybe from watching this show triggered my dormant feelings to help my country too. Maybe all of us from all over the world can take small steps to make someone else's life a bit better. In our own little way, we can make a big difference. Help your neighborhood, community, nation and the world.

Update to Gulf Air complaint

Well, this does seem unexpected, but a couple of months back I received a reply from Gulf Air regarding my complaint mailed to them as in the previous blog of mine. They said, they did not accept any responsibility for the stolen items but are willing to compensate for delayed baggage, ofcourse with a clause that I forego any claims towards Gulf Air. In short, I can't sue them ;-).
I signed a waiver and stuff and today I received a check for $83, the amount they said they would give in the letter. Well don't know where that figure came from, but I thought something is better than nothing.
Oh, this does not change my mind about not flying gulf air again. But just wanted you all to know the status.
I was hoping to fly Jet Airways, but for all the news items saying that some US company Jet Airways Inc. alleges that the Jet Airways of India has links with Al Qaeda. Oh well!! my luck!!

Letter To Gulf Air

-- This is my grievance letter I sent to Gulf Air presidant through their website. Hopefully I get a response back. People, NEVER FLY GULF AIR to India.

I traveled to City B, India from City C, on 18th Dec 2004. I reached City B on 20th Dec at 3:45 am. My bags did not arrive with me and were delayed/misplaced. I filled out all the required forms with Gulf Air ground staff at City B airport. My two bags arrived to City B on 21st Dec 2004. However as I am not a resident of City B, I had already left for my hometown, City A. I requested the official named Mr. Anil at the Gulf Air baggage department at City B airport to send my bags to City A international airport and requested that customs check be done in City A in front of me. He assured me that the bags would be sent to City A as soon as possible on an Air-India flight. For the next 4 days, that is upto 24th Dec 2004, my bags did not reach City A in spite of Air India operating almost 5 flights to the city from City B. The reason I was given was that Air India did not take the bags due to lack of space. This reason is hard to believe considering the number of flights that came in and the domestic traffic patterns between the two cities.
Finally tired of calling up long distance everyday and given no guarantees on when my bags would be sent, on 24th Dec I requested Mr. Anil to clear the customs and send the bags via courier services. I faxed them custom release form, addressed to the custom official at City B airport, a copy of which I still have. When I received my bags on Saturday, 25th Dec 2004, many of my items were missing from both bags. I can assure you that these items were well under the Indian customs limits and rules. I had stated most of the items I had in the bags to Mr. Anil and assured that my luggage had personal items for use during my stay in India.
On complaining to Mr. Anil of missing items, he acted ignorant and denied everything. The items missing were placed much inside my bags and could not have been stolen enroute to India by a random thief. According to me, they were stolen after my bags arrived in City B and were with the Gulf Air baggage department. I also DID NOT receive any compensation from Gulf Air for my delayed bags. The list of items stolen from my bags is stated below.
Item Value
------------------------------
Cellphone – US $100
Calculator – US $12
Purse – US $35
Chocolates/Cookies – US $15
CD wallet – US $15

I would like to be compensated for these items as well because it is due to lack of service and care on the part of Gulf Air that my bags were delayed and also not put on the Air India flight to City A. I hold Mr. Anil and Gulf Air responsible for the missing items as the items were stolen while the baggage was under his supervision. As a staff member of reputed International Airlines he should have made sure that nothing happened to the bags.

I am highly disappointed with the customer service of Gulf Air. This Mr. Anil would not talk decently to me. Your customer service representative in the USA also did not have the decency to talk properly. I also did not receive one of my bags on my return journey to the US on 16th Jan 2005. I also know of a friend who twice traveled to India by Gulf Air and did not receive his bags on time in India.

We as customers spend a lot of money to go to our home country and such a bitter experience really is not required. Every day for a week I could not sleep because my bags did not arrive. I had to live on one pair of clothes for a week. Gulf Air basically spoiled my first trip in 3 years to my home country. I have been mentally traumatized by this horrible experience. Let me assure you that I will NEVER ever in my life travel by Gulf air again and would also not recommend it to anyone I know.

I want to be compensated monetarily for my delayed baggage and missing items from my luggage. I also expect an apology from Gulf Air for all the mental stress and trauma they caused me besides the monetary loss of my belongings.

Sincerely,