Wordsmiths

In my opinion a writer's(successful writer that is) life is so attractive.However,writing is a tough tough art.How do you write something which people would want to read?How do you even know what people want to read about?However,there are some talented and exceptionally skilled folks who have somewhat figured out this mystery and whatever they write is a success.

The world of writers and their ilk is a crowded place.There are so many wannabees,so many aspiring writers.And on the world wide web almost anyone can call himself a writer for that matter.

I have delved into the works of numerous writers since childhood as books have always been very dear to me.As a child I remember reading the great works of English literature-Dickens,Robert Louis Stevenson,Jules Verne,Mark Twain to name a few.Enid Blyton with the great series of famous fives,secret sevens,five find outers and others remains an all time favourite though its hard to spot any of her works especially here in America. I also loved the Sherlock Holmes stories and have read and reread them and can still enjoy them. RK Narayan's Swami and Friends is another all time favourite.

There was a time I used to be very interested in business books and I read quite a few-Lee Iacoca's Made in America,Akio Morita's Made in Japan,an engrossing book on Apple computers,Jack Welch's book about GE,Lou Gestners Elephant's can dance.I got bored even though these were all great works about careers of exceptionally talented people however the paths that these books tread were more or less the same. It doesn't excite me anymore.

There are numerous books I have started reading,lost interest and left midway.Some have been boring like hell and I persisted with them as long as I could. Then there have been some absolutely fascinating but make very slow reading like the Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance.This is one amazing work I have still been unable to read through after many attempts. It must be the most unusual book I have read ever.

I love books which are witty and funny at the same time.Bill Bryson books are recent favorites as they are great to read.A walk in the woods,I'm a stranger here myself,Travels down under make great reads.I somewhere read about Bryson that even if the guy writes about something as boring as laundry lint he will make you laugh. I certainly can vouch for that. I am currently reading his Life of the thunderbolt kid-a memoir about life in America in the fifties.

I also love reading cricket related books with their inside stories of famous matches and players.Sunil Gavaskar's one day wonders is fantastic. I recently read Sachin's biography but it was more replete with stats than the man himself.John Wright's Indian Summers seems to be an intriguing read with his take on the Indian team and the board.There are not many good writers writing about cricket unfortunately. A book on "sidhuisms" anyone?!

I have at several times attempted reading VS Naipaul and always given up with exasperation. I find his writing style too complex and elaborate.Its the complexity which puts me off.I mean you can sound all classy,sophisticated and regal but I would any day take someone whose narrative gives you an impression that the author is more or less speaking to the reader.Khushwant Singh is a writer that excels in this genre. His books make for addictively pleasurable reading specially his essays compiled in "Not a nice man to know" and his memoir "Love,Lies and a little malice".I rate him as a very accomplished and a thoroughly enjoyable author.

I also have a special liking for memoirs and biographies.Sometimes its amazing to see the parallels when you read an autobiography and you also go on to read the same person's biography.As in the case of Mahatma Gandhi's "My experiment's with truth"-as honest and sombre account of oneself as one can dare to make public.Louis Fischer's Gandhi at the same time is a fantastic biography presenting Mahatma's life from many other angles which are not conceivable when someone writes an account of himself.Another fascinating biography is Genius on the life and times of Richard Feynman.Feynman though gave fabulously original and creative lectures which later were compiled into several books never cared to write a memoir.I guess it would have sounded something damn boring for a person who hated authority and hypocrisy of any sort.

The subject of books being made into blockbuster movies is another interesting subject to boot.
It must be an incredibly difficult proposition to condense a lengthy book into a 2 hour movie with taut screenplay,interesting characters and all without loosing the guiding theme of the original work.Perhaps this is the reason that books are almost always better than the movies that adapt them.Rarely has been a movie made that has paralleled the book if not exceeded its charm.The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a perfect example of this.It actually made people sit up and take notice of the marvellous epic that Tolkein created almost a century ago.

Gifted writers you see are a marvellous and a rare species.We are thankful for their work.

All hail Team India!

I'm late on this but a week back team India did the improbable-beat the saffies in a test match in their own backyard.Going into the test series after being blown away 4-0 in the recently concluded ODI series,even the word 'underdogs' seemed charitable to the men in blue.But displaying an inspirational self belief the team rallied against all odds to beat SA inside four days.It was as good as it can get.

It's quite surprising to fathom why such a cricket crazy country like ours with its demi-God cricket stars wins so less test matches overseas.There are various theories the chief being the inability of our batsmen to counter the pace and bounce on foreign tracks.With the odd exception of Dravid and Sachin in the current team,there is hardly any batsman who can claim to have a sound teachnique to play on any kind of surface.However,this is an anamoly which afflicts most teams with the possible exception of the Aussies.Another theory which makes absolute sense to me is that we never have had bowlers who could bowl out the opposition twice to win test matches.So inflicted with this twin anamoly its not too hard to understand why our overseas record is so poor.

This test match however was a shocker for the saffies.They would have gone into this game assured of a one sided contest.What they were in for was nothing less than a miracle for an Indian fan.Chosing to take first strike on what looked like a dicey wicket to bat on,the Indian innings began badly with Sehwag and Jaffar out cheaply.Dravid playing the test match inspite of a broken finger led from the front and he found more than able support in Sachin at the other end.The pair saw off a very crucial passage of play where another wicket would have spelt doomsday for India.Ganguly returning to the team admist intense media scrutiny and public pressure produced a remarkable innings of 51 and some lusty hitting by VRV Singh at the end put the Indian score to 249.

When SA batted,Sreesanth struck havoc getting the ball to swing and seam prodigiously from a full length and literally running thru the SA side like hot knife thru butter.It was an incredible spell of seam bowling.The seam position was upright in almost every other delivery and the length was immaculate.Zaheer and the ever dependable Kumble bowled brilliantly too and before you knew it SA was bowled out for a mere 84 inside 25 overs.

Realizing that they had the upper hand in the contest India played well in the second innings with Laxman leading the pack with a brillaint 72 and Ganguly chipping in with 25.Zaheer showed enormous patience for a tail ender to stick around and add an invaluable 37 runs swelling the overall lead beyond 400.

When the saffies came out to bat in the second innings the pressure was squarely on them.The Indian bowlers fresh from their exploits in the first innings produced another sterling display to wrap up the game for India.They were backed up by agressive field placings from Dravid and impressive catching and ground fielding.

As they say cricket is a game of uncertainities.India the underdogs won this test by 123 runs and go up 1-0 in the test series.

Here's to the game and team India on a fantastic win!.

Rudolph!

I love this christmas song:

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen,
but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows
All of the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names,
They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games
Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say,
"Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleight tonight"
Then how the reindeer loved him, as they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, you'll go down in history!

Rudolph my friend you rock!!

NRI Blues....

Yesterday I read an interesting but disturbing story of a 'green card' couple based in the US who were denied entry at the Mumbai airport because they could not furnish visas for their two children who are US citizens.Apparently the immigration authorities initially agreed to accept a faxed copy of the documents but the fax arrived ten minutes after the family was sent back.

Now the gentleman went back and told his story to the media summarily mentioning "I'm ashamed of being an Indian". This was the piece that cracked me up. I mean you turn up at the immigration counter without visas and then you dare to comment back on the system.It's an unpardonable thing in these days of heightened international security to undertake a transcontinental journey without appropriate papers.Now,had the family been visting India on a personal emergency or tragedy then this miraculous absence of visas could still be fathomed but imagine being a seasoned international traveller and ending up in front of immigration authorities without visas. That is asking for big trouble.Atleast in India,the authorities were even willing to listen to the arrangement of faxed papers.Imagine the situation in the US or any European country. I have little doubt that much worse treatment would have awaited them there.

And then to cry to the media about being "ashamed" of being an indian!.Some gals here!.I'm not even for a moment suggesting that Indian officials are meticulous in what they do.There have been umpteen cases of people getting rude and insensitive treatments at Indian airports.Courtesy and politeness is not our strong point in any case.But the facts of this case put the blame squarely on the parent's callousness.

There was also this incident of a Frenchman who was given a transit visa on the spot while the Indian family was denied. It really needs to be investigated if proper procedures were followed in this case. Afterall you would believe that the rule is same for all.

Indian community event....

A couple of weeks back I got an invitation to attend IBM India's community xmas/new year dinner here in Cincinnati.The event was held today at a local holiday inn express.It was a great gesture from couple of folks who took the trouble to organize this event.

I'm definitely not a party person and tend to be somewhat skeptical.One thing that almost always happens in these parties is ladies and the men form seperate groups and the guys spend the time talking about work or office politics both of which annoy me no ends.I mean is that all that is interesting in the world to talk about?

The other funny thing that happens with amazing regularity is people being coaxed to dance!.I mean you should shake a leg and have fun by all means but atleast do not relentlessly coax people into doing a jig impromptu.My idea of fun does'nt happen to be dancing to bollywood numbers anyway.I would rather enjoy any other party games for that matter.

The other rite of passage that happens is when people start playing their work roles in office get-togethers. I mean you might be my boss or manager at work but give me a break this is outside work. I have frequently seen people higher in the pecking order being given more importance or trying to show off at these gatherings.

Anyways to cut the long rant short today's event was pleasantly better.The crowd was comprised of India based IBM'ers who work in and around Cincinnati and their families.The only problem seem to be that there was a big group coming from a single project who obviously knew each other well. I mean nothing wrong with that but its just that mostly these people interacted amongst themselves.I met some nice and interesting guys.The appeatizers and the dinner were good and there were a few games-housie and dumb charades thrown in.There was the inevitable 'dance coaxing'....but overall not that bad.

It was good to know IBM'ers who live and work here.I was a bit surprised at the relatively large numbers.I had thought not many would be around here.Good on that....

Winter time in Ohio

Its the best time of the year with Thanksgiving just over and Christmas and New Year to look forward to.Its also the time when temps drop like a stone and lakes and ponds freeze.This year it was unusually warm till around thanksgiving with temps pleasantly in the sixties.However,like day and night change of seasons is inevitable.The cold front hit with a vengeance last week.It dumped heavy snow in Missouri and Illinois and clamped the temps down in twenties from sixties just a few days back.There are no snow showers as of yet here in Cincinnati but the wind is cold enough to chill your bones.

I do like winter as it lets you cosy up with a book or watch tv and enjoy hot meals and wine!.However removing snow or frost from the car windshield during chilly mornings is no fun at all.I normally have a habit of parking my car a fair distance from the building where I work.Actually by the time I reach most parking spaces near the building are anyways gone.The short walk can seem like ages with the wind howling and the air so cold.

Normally the first day it snows is also the time when most car accidents happen.People skidding off or loosing traction in ice.Fortunately in Cincinnati,snow storms are not so frequent as in NJ or Chicago.Last year there was one major storm which dumped quite some snow and some snow showers otherwise.The speculation for this year is stiffer as most folks say last time it was a an unusually 'mild' winter.

However,the best thing about this time of the year is the festive atmosphere and holiday lights and decorations everywhere which always lift up your spirits.The local soft rock station plays melodious christmas songs like Sinatra's "Let it snow,let it snow" and others. I hear those on the way to work and back.They are always so delightfull.I can liken this euphoria to the Diwali celebrations and ligthts back home.There are "Happy Holidays" signs everywhere and people are spending a lot of time in the malls shopping for gifts.

As they say "Happy Holidays,Happy Holidays"....

Zee TV in the USA

Sometime earlier this year we planned on getting a dish network connection so that we could get the hindi channels-star,sahara,zee and the works.It turned out much more complicated than I had anticipated!.For starters you need a clear view of the southern sky and our apartment's backyard is laced with a line of tall trees.So on the appointed day the Dish tech guy came in with a compass and announced much to my chagarin that we could not get the service as the view of the southern sky was promptly blocked by trees.

Some months later when we ordered the cable service from Time Warner cable we found out that it offered Zee TV as an option for 15$ monthly.We signed up for it hoping to atleast view some desi programming after a long time.

Zee in USA is a well packaged channel with news in hindi,gujarati and punjabi apart from regular prime time soap operas.It also shows a matinee movie(some of them really antique!) on work week afternoons.

What really set me laughing(and still does!) is the absolutely slapstick approach to the hindi news coverage.For example all cricket analysis starts with something hillarious like "Rahul Bhai lage raho...".It continues to enlighten us on how "Guru Chappell ko yaad aayi Dada ki"!!
I recently saw a news item about a composer who has created a Bhojpuri song about how great would be if MS Dhoni and Sania Mirza tie the knot and the whole marriage is coordinated by Laloo.What a load of crap!!.

The news is really funny and its really speculation and sensationalization as opposed to reporting on matters of interest.I would rate DD news several notches up inspite of the drab presentation and that fuzzy INSAT b/w picture which served as a backdrop for "Mausam ki jaankaari".

Westward Ho!

I recently returned from my leisurely vacation in California,quite easily my longest vacation in a long time.The two official days off at Thanksgiving and two weekends provided me 12 days to complete my trip and complete I did with starting off my trip from Los Angeles then on to San Francisco and on to Las Vegas and Grand Canyon and back to Los Angeles.It was by all accounts a memorable trip. I was in Los Angeles for a couple of days in the last days of 2000 but most of that trip was spent in Disney World and Universal studios leaving no time to marvel at the natural wonders in California.The weather is quite amazingly pleasant(seems more so if you travel from the mid-west) and the LA expressways are bustling with traffic.Its a big bad city all right!.

It wont do justice to summarize the entire trip in one blog entry so I plan to dedicate a blog each to LA,SFO,Vegas and Grand Canyon.I did take a lot of pictures with my Nikon D80.What I thought were my best work so far are posted at http://flickr.com/photos/rishis75/

Some of the other places I really wanted to visit but had no time to do so on this trip were Yosemite National Park and Lake Taho.Maybe some time soon I would touch down on those too.

I enjoyed my time...more to come.

The Titanic Exhibit

Ever since I watched the Titanic movie,I have been intrigued by its history.As part of my Titanic research I have read some excellent books like "A night to remember" and a beautiful coffee table book co-written by Robert Ballard who was the chief explorer and scientist on the team which discovered the Titanic wreck in the north atlantic in 1985.

There are numerous personal stories to be found-some courageous and many heartbreakingly sad and poignant.There is the famous quote by one Guggenheim-a millionaire who is quoted to have said "Not a single woman or child will die on the Titanic because Guggenheim was a coward".There is Captain Smith himself-on his last voyage before planned retirement who chose to go down with his ship.Then there is the "unsinkable" Molly Brown whose courage and prayer chanting aboard one of the lifeboats brought some calm to terrified souls.

I recently visited a fantastic Titanic exhibits show at the Cincinnati Arts and Museum Center where hundreds of recently salvaged artifacts from the most famous ship wreck in history were on display.It was somewhat dissapointing that the organisers did not allow photography of the items on display. It sure would have made a very interesting set.Nevertheless it was an unforgettable experience to see the artifacts brought to life by cutting edge modern preservation techniques.These are some of the articles on display from my memory-

• Fashionable leather purses belonging to first class passengars
• Beautiful jewellery again mostly belonging to the rich upper class on board the Titanic.One spectacular diamond ring stood out-gleaming and regal.
• A Gillete razor and case belonging to one of the travellers.
• A vest and oxford style trousers indicative of the staid victorian dressing of the day.
• Beautiful china used to serve First class and the 'La carte' exclusive restaurant.Much modest and heavy cups and saucers for the working class passengars in third class.
• Binoculars used on the watch towers-looked antique and heavy.
• A make believe first class lobby with matching lamps in the lobby with heavy carpetting and beautifully carved doors which would have belonged to the regal first class parlor suits.
• A make believe third class cabin with 2 bunker beds facing each other.

As you walked though each section of the exhibit you could hear or read about the passengars and detailed scientific analysis about the flawed design of water tight compartments which sank the ill fated ship.Most of the passengars died from hypothermia due to the extreme cold and not from drowning in the sea waters.The Carpathia which was the nearest ship to Titanic arrived the next morning and rescued the passengars in the life boats.

There was also a historical section on Cincinnati in 1912.Being the first boom town of the mid west it boasted of many influential figures.The archbishop of the day had critisized the owners of Titanic for their arrogance in claiming that "Even God himself could not sink the ship".

The legend and the poignant history of the most famous ship in history lives on.It was called the ship of dreams...and it was....untill about the time it met its match in the mighty ice bergs of the north atlantic.

ThePhotography Bug!

I guess I had this for sometime even though I must confess I know precious little about the technicalities.So I thought I would make amends and went ahead and got myself a DSLR(Digital Single Reflex) Camera. DSLR's are the 'real' cameras and sure cost a bomb!.I bought the recently launched Nikon D80 and have been trying to figure it.Obviously this is no easy hobby to keep...so I picked up some Photography books and manuals from the library and started pouring over it.

I guess I understand the basics now-Aperture,Shutter speed,Exposure,lighting etc.The beauty as usual lies in the details which means you need to be able to translate all this technical knowledge into using the DSLR.

I havent still really got a chance to try out the D80 but this weekend seems a good opportunity to catch the last of the beautiful fall season around here. I guess I will start out with some pictures in 'idiot' mode and then experiment with some of the things I learnt about.

More to come on my fledgling photographic journey!

Random thoughts on a weekday....

Ok...I have nothing specific to write about so I will ramble somewhat aimlessly today.

The other day I was thinking about "Fate and chance"...not in a mathematical or statistical sort of way but more in terms of its imapct on our lives.Sometimes I really wonder if anything has a meaning at all...a lot of things in nature work on the principle of chance...for example-the very creation of life.Everything seems to be controlled by an unknown element of mystery and chance.Suppose you are driving down a road and get into an accident....why does that happen? why did it happen to you?No one can answer these questions.Statistics says that perhaps the probability of people driving down a road and meeting with an accident is say x % based on number of cars on the road,driving conditions etc.But if you happen to be in that x % then what is that supposed to mean?Was it your luck or a random event in which you figured by chance.You see what a hopeless quagmire this is...

Religion,Science and Philosophy deal with this universal question very differently.Religion asks you to believe in "Karma" or destiny.Your path in life is pre-decided by the Supreme being and everything that happens is pre-written in the pages of your book of life.

Science talks about probability and tries to put a number to the events in life making it seem statistical and cold.But life is not all numbers and probabilities or is it?

Philosophy often tries to tread the middle ground if there is one that is.It teaches us to question.
Many philosphers have even asked what do we mean by understanding or to question 'why' things happen.

None of this happens to answer the universal question of life- why do things happen the way they do?Is everything predestined to happen?

I somewhat believe that in the grand scheme of things there is no rhyme or reason why things happen. They are meaningless events in a random cosmos.

Jungle Jim's

Several months ago a colleague at work had mentioned about a store called "Jungle Jim's" in fairfield ohio...a 10 mile drive or so.The concept is quite unique-Jungle Jim sells food produts from different countries -Germany,UK,Austria,Japan,China,India to name a few.

Last Sunday,I decided to check out the place.It was very interesting with a HUGE setup and different sections dedicated to food products from around the world. It was a great experience walking down different aisles.A few that I checked out were - Germany,UK,Austrailia,South Africa,Carribean and of course India.

The Indian section was really a bigger variation of the quintissential 'desi' stores scattered all over the US.The thing that catches everybody's eye in the Indian section is an Auto Rickshaw displayed on an elevated podium.It was complete with a picture of Rani Mukherjee inside and a note stuck on the wheel saying "imagine being an auto rickshaw driver in india"!.There was also a neat explanation about the gear mechanics and how the auto worked. I found it pretty amusing.

If there can be a store with the novel concept of Jungle Jim's it has to be in the US.This great nation is really a melting pot of cultures and cuisines from so many different countries.

Jungle Jim's on the internet

Panic Room....

This past wednesday I got my first ER(Emergency Room) experience.I was at work when about noon I started getting these sharp stomach pains which initially seemed like stomach cramps.Its rare for me to have even a stomach upset so it caught me totally offguard.Still under growing pain,I drove home,stopped at the supermarket and bought a pack of "GasX" hoping that it was just some constipation issue causing the pain.

But by the time I got home and lay in bed,the pain had worsened so much that it would not allow me to lie still,talk or walk.We contemplated calling 911 but then I thought since the hospital was just a stone's throw why wait...so there I was in mind numbing pain driving thru heavy lunch time traffic to the Cincinnati's Bethesda Hospital's Emergency unit.

At the hospital,I held my stomach in pain as the inevitable paper work was done..unable to speak coherently from the pain,I just put down my insurance card and driver's license on the nurse's desk.After what seemed like an endless wait(actually it was just some 15 minutes or so but seemed like eternity under that terrible pain) I gingerly walked into the alloted room and lay down on the bed.

A wrist band with my name and id printed on it was clipped to me.I was then wheeled out to the Radiologist center and administered X-rays of my stomach,back and chest.Then I was wheeled back to my room and was told to await the doctor.I tried to sleep and didnt realize when I slept probably under some realxing medication.When I woke up the pain was gone!.

The Dr came in a few minutes later and asked me about my pain and its location.Almost immidiately he said "sounds like a kidney stone to me".He said I could already have passed it since I was under no pain or it could have temporarily dislodged itself causing a temporary pain relief.He said he had ordered a CT scan to be sure his diagnosis was on the mark.

I was wheeled into the CT scan room shortly afterwards and it looked absolutely like a scifi movie with that hitech gadgetry.After the scan the Doctor returned to inform me that the pain was indeed due to the kidney stone but fortunately for me the stone was very small(about 2mm in size) and there was every possibility that I would pass it normally and no surgery was needed.He said the pain could return and he would prescribe some strong pain killers to deal with it.I was told to stay off from work and drink lots of water to help it along.

Over the next two days the pain did return with a vengenace and I spent two very restless days and nights foggy and weak from the medication.However this morning there was no pain and I sure passed it!.

I never thought a 2 mm tiny stone could cause so much pain...also the human's body's self correcting mechanism is underestimated.I feel good again but I had a hellish week with ending up in a hospital gown and under a CT scanner...Thank god I didnt find myself on the surgeon's table.

Spammed!

I wonder who keeps sending me all these junk emails.I get emails saying I've won a million dollars,credit card approved,mortgage,a university degree...you name it!.And there is also the matter of this Email which always comes once in a while-a confidential email from some obscure country requesting my services to transfer some million dollar inheritance and keep a percentage as a payout.Holy crap!...it breaks my heart to keep putting down these unstoppable offers of being a millionaire! and I tell you its tough work!.

Seriously,what's the point of this spamming?My yahoo bulk folder(thanks for small mercies) dosent take more than a day to ring up some 1000 emails- all of them spam.I mindlessly keep deleting them most of the time but every once in a while take a peek at where they are coming from.They seem to be overflowing from every part of the spectrum-finances,fashion,banks,music,romance..the list keeps on growing.

I wonder if there are actually people writing out these emails.I fiddle with that thought and then drop it...most likely smart programmes spewing out all the trash.

So there are millions of these "service machines" sending out gazillion of emails which I dont even read!....talk of being redundant.

Interesting Medley!

Quite a couple of interesting things going on in the world.First was the shocking ball tampering incident in the Eng-Pak Test match at the Oval.It was rather amusing too with the 2 candiadates involved having pretty tardy reputations.On one side Daryl Hair who along with Bucknor must be the most controvertial and unfair umpire and on the other side the Pakistan cricket team with a history of chuckers,ball tamperers and cheats.The incident soon snowballed into a rollicking controversy with both sides refusing to budge and Pak ending up forfeiting the test match.The ICC hearing is yet to take place and already lot of dirty politics is happening behind the scenes.Inzy alleges that there is no evidence of ball tampering and Hair is adamant that there was foul play involved.

Its actually difficult to believe either,Hair with a history of unfair umpiring against sub-continent teams and the pak players who themselves are far from the honest card they seem to be playing to the media. All in all its not good for the game.

The other intersting thing I saw on the news today was Pluto booted out its planet status.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/08/24/pluto.ap/index.html
This is quite ironic to me as Pluto was my favourite planet...no specific reasons..just felt that way since its so far far away and sounds so small!...I hope this does not lessen the popularity of Disney character Pluto-another favourite of mine.

I am currently reading Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Namesake".Its been quite some time I last read a good work of fiction and I am impressed by Lahiri's ability to tell a story effusively.It has made me interested in her other work "Interpreter of Maladies" a collection of short stories which won her the Pulitzer in 2000.

Motu in Cincinnati!

Last weekend was great as Motu arrived in Cincinnati to watch the ATP Master's Finals and to spend some time with us.I think we met after more than a year so it was great to catch up on old times and our golden days at BIT Sindri.The memories of those days never ceases to amaze me.

On Friday late evening we drove to Dayton airport to pick up Rajan.Dayton is about 60 miles from Cincinnati.The drive was easy and we reached on time.Dayton airport despite being international is pretty small sized compared to CVG and other US airports I have seen. We waited awhile as we got there a bit early.There were lots of cute little kids running about the waiting lounge with their favourite toys.

On Saturday after a hearty lunch at the Bombay High restaurant we headed to the Cincinnati Museum and Arts center.We spent time at the Natural History museum and then went to watch the documentary "Beavers" at the Omnimax theatre.As expected it was an awesome experience.Beavers are industrious creatures who build dams as their home.Naure is astounding whichever way you look at it.In the evening we went to the Newport on the Levee.Its a nice center overlooking the Ohio river with fine restaurants,shops and an impressive aquarium.On weekends there is live music in the large courtyard and you can boat on the river or walk the purple bridge.Its a very pretty area.

Sunday was the ATP Masters final and from our experience of last year,we wisely reached the venue more than an hour ahead.The crowd was already milling in and we spent time wandering about the shops and the display of Mercedes cars as Merc is one of the tournament sponsors.

The final was between Andy Roddick and Carlos Ferrero from Spain.There were quite a few spanish supporters in the crowd some sporting the beautiful Spanish flag.The match was a one sided affair with Andy blasting aces upon aces to win 6-4,6-3.Andy is a gracious sportsman and he acknowledged the crowd and his opponent in his victory speech.

It was a tiring weekend,and since Rajan's return flight was on Monday morning at 630AM,we had to get up really early.But all in all it was a fun weekend and the only dampener was it was over so soon!.

KANK!!

"Kabhi Alvida Na kehna"(I prefer to call it KANK) is being touted as the biggest hindi film of the year.I havent seen it yet and neither plan to do so anytime soon.Media reports are overflowing with news of a record opening.I did read a couple of critics reviews and true to their name they were pretty savage about the movie.

I can totally relate to them.Karan Johar makes the same kind of movies all the time and there is a serious lack of creativity and realism in his characters.The other big problem is his buddy SRK who apparently is taking his megastardom too seriously these days.I have a healthy regard for the way he has risen to the top albeit the traecherous waters of fame and fortune.But as an actor SRK seems to have serious limitations.He just cant fall back on acting prowess to enact either drama,tragedy or comedy.So what comes across is a stereotype who makes the same contorted faces,hams the same lines,even walks,runs and smiles the same way in all his screen characters these days.SRK in "Swades" was a revelation,I wish we had more of his sober and low key self on screen.

Karan Johar talks the same crap about "relations"(whatever that means) in all his movies.I guess some university needs to gift him a Phd in "relations" and request him not to make any more movies on the topic.I read in some interview he said "I have grown up"....now if that is true then may God save the fans!.

So basically the question I have for these guys is-"Do you have a story?"..and since the answer is obviously "No" then what the heck is the song,dance and all the tears about??

The next weird thing I find is that SRK stars in the new "Don"....I saw a promo and it made me want to watch Amitabh's original again.Can the God father be made without Marlyn Brando?
None of Amitabh's movies can be remade....the guy and the charisma are timeless....
Remember "Don ko pakadna mushquil hi naheen namumkin bhi hai".

Not convinced?Ok watch this and go figure(:

This is called acting

Nobody's Business

When I was growing up I was often intrigued by offices.My initial impression of offices was that of people working at their desks with lots of interesting stuff on their tables-different kind of pens,writing pads,binders while the boss held the imposing corner office.The quintissential image of the big guy I had was that of an old balding guy with a large tummy who scared the hell out of his subordinates.Hindi movies were mostly responsible for this image.

Another thing that had me stumped was the question as to what the hell was a "Businessman" or "Business" for that matter.The movies I saw,there was always someone playing the rich business tycoon or the spoilt son of one.The problem was the movies never revealed what business these guys did.Mostly it was "import-export".I still havent quite figured out that one.

In the movies the sons and daughters of businessmen often went abroad("vilayat") and returned with sun glasses and drove fast cars.In one of my favorite movies "Trishul", Amitabh plays the illegitimate son of a big business tycoon and through his wily skills overruns the empire.I loved that and it somehow dawned on me that business was basically "Auction"..you bid large sums of money to outbid an opponent.It seemed fun but the question remained what the hell did a Businessman do.

Then I used to see scores of people while travelling on train journeys who used to introduce themselves as "Businessmen".These guys looked far removed from the glamorous stereotypes I saw in the movies.

Fast forward to the present,I havent still quite figured it out.Now I know that not all MBA's are Businessmen...many work for Businesses. I also work for a Business...and no its not "import-export".There is no corner office...everyone works in cubicles and peers into their computer monitors all day long.Files and folders exist on a computer though I still love stationary specially post-its!

So again what does a Business or a Businessman do? I guess that's none of my business!.

Sahib's voice....

English seems to be the universal language the world speaks in.Sure there are many pockets of the world where its not the first choice but more or less its appeal is indeed universal.I'm often intrigued by the path taken by this language in my own homeland-india.You need not be a historian to guess that the British brought English to our shores.The language of the sahibs soon spread amongst few natives who must have considered themselves superior in some sense at being able to read and write the sahibs's literals.Many decades passed,the British eventually left India but the English language continued to thrive. I feel we were pretty fortunate in that sense.Without English there was no way India would have connected to the world.But what was happening inside our society?I think that initial sense of false superiority that the natives felt when they first took command of the language somewhere continued to seep down the decades.While in most of the English speaking western world English is nothing more than language,in India it is a complex thing empowering people who speak it with often exalted and false opinion of themselves. I remember back in school folks from convent and missionary schools seem to put themselves higher in the pecking order as they somehow felt that the gift of the gab was with them.I think many of us when we meet or hear someone for the first time tend to record first impressions as the manner in which the person speaks and if the person speaks incorrect english either grammatically or phonetically its occasion enough to mock him if not directly then behind his back.No wonder we make fun of a 'south indian' english, a 'Bengali' english and 'Bihari' english. I have found this particularly gross and unfair.Its another matter that which part of India you come from or what flavor of English you speak is hardly indicative of your worth as a person. I have known enough fools who spoke the queens's language in all its splendour.Well as the saying goes "you can study at Harvard and still be an idiot"!. While at college I found another class of language imperialists this time from the opposite end of the spectrum.To them speaking good english was a matter of being equivalent to a snob.Discussing literature,pulp fiction or Hollywood movies was taken as a sign of belonging to the snobbish upperclass.While using deranged,abusive,badly tattered colloquial mother tongue was somehow considered cool.So if you mentioned an article you read in the Readers Digest or discussed a hollywood flick you got labeled "sophisticated"!. Come to think of it....English is nothing more than a language- a powerful one at that since its spoken so universally.How does it matter the way you speak it.It only represents an exterior expression.Surely,if I was born speaking French I would still be as bad following directions as I am knowing and speaking English!.But alas we continue to judge people on the way they speak a certain language.

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Looking back....

If I look back a decade or so -we had no internet,satellite TV was a recent phenomena..mobile phones were unheard of...it makes me wonder how things have changed in the interim. When I get a chance to talk to school kids these days I really marvel at their knowledge of what's in vogue!.They seem to know the happening internet sites,the cool games,new age music and the works.My generation specially those who spent their childhoods in small sleepy towns in india,are kind of danglers-having seen the pre and post gizmo life.

When I look back,I feel we had our own forms of entertainment-street cricket,comics,DD movies!.Those days DD would have excellent sitcoms like Malgudi Days,Mungerilal ke haseen sapne,Nukkad,Karamchand to name a few.Today's soap operas dont even compare-the same trash splashed across multiple channels.No wonder dvd's of these old hits are still so much in demand.

Cricket was another big pastime.There are few things we would do as seriously as "matches" against rival teams.Those tennis ball matches stretching well into the late evening(almost dark many times) were so much fun.We would discuss our favourite players in school and someone would invariably slip a small transistor set in the class during India matches.Suddenly by mistake(or by design)the volume would go up crazily leading the whole class to giggle.The culprit would thus be caught and the transistor confiscated.I have a strong suspicion that our teachers used it to check on the scores in the staff rooms!.

Comics were such a hit amongst us children.We would devour the Tinkles,Chacha Chaudhary,Pinki,Biloo,Mama Bhanja and the works.On many occasions my friends have gifted me comics(of their choice!) on my Birthday which would be borrowed by them the same day!!.
Its been ages since I have laid my hands down on a hindi comic.You dont seem to find them these days.No bookstore in Bangalore sells hindi or even english versions of diamond comics.Couple of years ago while on a long train journey,I spotted a "chacha chaudhary" digest at the wheeler's book stall.Even though it was the english version I had great fun reading it.I'm not sure if the original creator-Pran of the diamond comic series is still alive.

Exams were the worst times.I think somehow this phenomena is same for whatever generation you are born.I remember we would have 2 "monthly" tests and 2 "terminal" exams follwed by the holy grail-"The Finals".I'm really not sure if whatever I learnt at school could qualify for "Education".If I have to give an honest opinion I would say all we learnt were some fancy rules to solve problems(read math and science) and lots of unwanted information which had to be memorised and outputted in good handwriting at the exams to go to the next class.Strangely enough this pattern remained the same even in Engineering school which makes me wonder and somewhat scared as I really cannot recall anything I learnt.Anyway,I had lot of fun learning "nothing" and do not regret being uneducated that much!.

In essence though the times have changed the social structure has not changed that much.I guess parents are still anxious about their children taking 'safe' careers(read engineering,medicine..).Though with the growing opportunities in other fields like law,design,commerce and even sports this trend is changing somewhat for the positive.

To think of it, I dont really remember what I wanted to take up as a profession when I was a child.I dont remember anyone asking me that question and I feel like having progressed from one stage to another without much thought to the destination.So I kind of reached where I had to as a 'matter-of-fact'...which is not such a bad thing if you think about it.

Care for your eyes!

Couple of weeks back I realized that I needed to replace my contact lenses.Luckily my insurance covers the cost of an eye exam and the contacts.Back home in India,its a relatively cheap bargain.You can get a 'once a year replace' lenses for about 1200 rs( $27).The eye exam is generally a freebie if you order new contacts or spectacles.However here in the US of A,the eye exam turned out to be a long winded elaborative procedure.I walked into a local 'Lenscrafter' and got an appointment for the following week.

On my scheduled day I arrived at the Doctor's office which was right inside the Lenscrafter showroom.I had to wait quite a bit and I was somewhat in a quandry as to what could be taking so long.When my turn came I was motioned to a room with number of monitors and a huge screen which was to be used for "opto scan"-the latest technology which enables the doctor to look at a scan of the complete eye ball including the back of the eye and adjoining blood vessels.Pretty impressive i thought.But before I could peer into the scanner,I was administered some more tests-the rudimentary reading test then some test which seemed to measure how the eyes blink to flashes...atleast that's what I made of it. The opto scan was simple..all I had to do was peer into a round hole one eye at a time and bingo its done.

Next stop was into the doctor's room and I sat in the high chair with all the measuring instruments around me.The doctor came in after some minutes...a good natured grey haired guy.He showed me the opto scan results and said it was in excellent shape so no worries.He then did a few more tests asking me to read from a box with different numbered lenses.Then he proceeded to tell me that I would need lenses with a small astigmatism correction. I made the mistake of asking him what astigmatism means in layman terms. The good doctor gave me a verbatim lecture on the basics of astigmatism.He even opened an old dusty book and used a plastic eyeball for example.Then he looked at his watch and remarked "see you got me going on a pet topic"!.

Next I was handed a pair of trial lenses and asked to take a follow-up appointment in a week's time to see how I was doing with the lenses.

I turned up after a week and reported excellent results.I was told my vision was now enhanced better than 20/20!.The eye exam cost $157 and a year's supply of lenses cost a whopping $340!.Needless to say I immediately sent off my claim to my health insurance company.While I was surely impressed by the detailed care and tests I really wonder how a person without vision benefits can even afford lenses for the total bill comes to about $500!!...that already blurs my vision a bit albeit my new lenses.My only grudge-I forgot to ask the good doctor what he thought of "x-ray" vision...I will leave that thought till my next eye-care appointment.

Sania in Cincinnati

Every summer Cincinnati plays host to the "Western and Southern Financial" Tennis tournamnet where top 50 players are invited to participate.This month they are hosting the ladies matches and in August will be the Men's tournament.

Sania won her first two games to enter the quarterfinals which was played yesterday.It being Friday 7PM start,the game was a big draw with local indians turning out in large numbers.I reached the stadium a bit early and saw her practicing on the center court with her hitting partner.When the match started the crowd support for her was remarkable and she didnt dissapoint by handsomely winning the first game against last years champ Patty Schnyder.

During the course of the match she hit some unbelivable winners and absolutely thundering serves(highest was 110 mph!)....however when you play top seeded players you cant afford to make too many mistakes and Sania made plenty.Couple of double faults and bad returns saw her lose the first set in the tie break.The game was interrupted twice by rain and when it resumed Sania seemed to fight back well in the second set only to make too many unforced errors resulting in gifting a match she could have won.In the end the crowd were treated to high class tennis.Sania has all the big shots but what see seems to lack is the big match experience. With little more focus and right training she definitely has the ability and the talent to break into the top 20.

As we were coming out I saw a little crowd waiting in front of the players lounge.Patty schnyder came out first and she was wonderfully gracious and charming with the crowd.Heck even I got an autograph on back of my visting card!!.Sania made the crowd wait a little bit more and was virtually mobbed when she came out.She looked a little dissapointed and understandably so.She signed the autographs without smiling.The crowd's behavior was dissapointing..nobody clapped and none said a word or two commending her performance.People were just too busy getting autographs...I also managed one...a raucous scrawl!!....

Here are some pics I took at the game:

Swami Revisited....

The other day I discovered a community on the web dedicated to RK Narayan's "Swami & Friends".The book is a classic and like all great works of art remains timeless.The essence of the book is the simplicity of the character and an almost poignant innocense which seems lost in the fast paced world of today.Anyone who has grown up with Shankar Nag's wonderful series "Malgudi Days" cant disassociate Swami from Manjunath-the child actor who played the lead role in the series.Swami and his chums remind us of our long lost childhoods.Swami detests homework,loves cricket and cant seem to understand for the life of him why his father keeps meddling in his affairs.On monday mornings,Swami prays that an earthquake would drown "Albert Mission"-his school for in the revelery of the weekend he has forgotten his homework!. Swami's pal Mani is a boisterous character who brags of fighting ghosts with his cricket bat.There is something splendidly original and moving with the stories of swami's exploits that never ceases to inspire me.I would rate this work higher than Harry Potters of this world.Its ironic that RK Narayan for all his wizardry never achieved the cult following which he richly deserved.Nevertheless,Swami continues to live in the countless of people who at some point in their lives were swami themselves!.

Visit to Cincinnati Museum......

On 4th of July with nothing much to do,we went visting the Cincinnati Museum and Arts Center.The center boasts of an impressive facade-a semicircular dome at the backdrop of a bubbly fountain and lush greens all around.We were greeted by a smiling and courteous parking attendant who announced "Parking $4.50"....I gingerly rummaged through my wallet and came up with the requisite change.It was already late in the afternoon and we had just under a couple of hours at our disposal.Once inside the museum I marvelled at the grand lobby with a beautiful dome.We decided on a combo deal of a wade through the Natural History Museum and a movie at the Museum's widely acclaimed Omnimax theatre.The Natural History section was interesting as expected and we checked out the portals on Ice age,the dinasours and the works.I spent quite some time looking at exquisite pollen shapes under a user friendly microscope(reminded me of Biology lab back in school!!).There was even a sample from Pune,Mahrashtra India.I felt a little proud and smiled to myself.

What I found most interesting was the section on Apollo Missions.The 'piece-de-resistance' was a rock sample collected during the historic Apollo's lunar mission in 1969.A couple of months back Niel Armstrong was in Cincinnati to present the rock sample to the museum. I was intrigued to discover that Armstrong is almost a local boy and he used to teach Areaunautical enginnering at the University of Cincinnati in the late seventies.He also delivered a lecture at the Museum during the presentation.I got to know about this event a little late and will always rue the chance of seeing in person one of the personlaities I really admire.

After an hour at the Natural History museum it was time for the omnimax show.The theatre was astounding with the circular dome and the walls serving for the gigantic screen.The documentary was "Greece-Secrets of the past".The view was almost 360 degrees and it was truly an incredible experience.Though I have seen couple of Imax shows including one at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC,this was an absolutely rivetting experince.The documentary itself was fabulous with fantastic commentary and soothing music.It was close to being in Greece for that matter.

It had started to drizzle lightly by the time we came out but that didnt deter me from clicking a couple of grand pictures on my camera.

In the end it was a day well spent and I'm sure what we saw was hardly a quarter of what is there to explore in the museum.But I leave that quest for another day.