Wierd News from US....

Watching the local news here in US, is a good pastime for me after the day's work. The reasons are many. The kinds of news that I get to see on the local TV are really weird and astonishing. Reports about sick dogs found on the road and the updates about that sick dog on subsequent days are trite. The other time it was a cat stuck on top of the electricity pole.

Today I got to see another unusual piece of report. Apparently some guy, called James Wilson, has put up a tent on the roof of his house and has called for a strike against his wife. What are his demands? Well, this is the crazy part, he wants the wife to stop bringing and keeping the kids in their bed room all the time as it leaves no time for themselves! Quite unimaginable for us Indians.

Evidence of Globalization

We have been reading about how globalization has set in and how Indians are leading the wave and what not. Supporting evidences have typically been the market capitalization by the western brands and businesses in India, and the huge presence of Indians in the west.

Look at the following picture taken at Columbus Circle in New York during the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade.

Do you notice anything "out of place" in the picture? I didn't notice it either while I took the picture. But later while checking the snaps taken from my NY trip, I was quite surprised by the "Hindi Advertisement" on top of the NY yellow cab! Well, I understand that Indians are everywhere and a big number of NY cab drivers are Indians, but an American Airline company advertising in Hindi in New York? Can't ask for a better evidence of the flattening world.

American Strangers Vs Indian Strangers

Americans have this interesting culture of putting up a conversations with strangers. For ex. when I'm on an elevator, any American in the elevator would come out with a simple expression like "How're you doin today?" or part with a wish for a good day ahead.

Had there been a fellow Indian in the elevator, whom I didn't happen to know, he'll have the most serious expression possible on the face. Even if I attempt and have a smile on my face, I get back only a weird inexplicable expression. If it's an Indian lady, the expression would just fall short of the one given to a scoundrel.

There is a reason probably for this to happen. When I have a nice friendly smile on my face, the fellow Indian must be thinking to himself/herself "Is he an Amway guy?" or "Why is this guy smiling at me? Surely he must be upto something".

Many times I reciprocate to Indians with a smile , only to find that it was an encouragement for the guy to come up to me and ask if I am interested in making 'extra' money, 'over and above' my regular income, by listening to his business propositions. Sad state, but have to live with this.
For instance, there is this guy, who has approached me atleast 5-6 times in different places like the library, the Indian store, Indian Restaurant etc, with a typical opening statement like "Do you stay in XYZ apt?" or "Have I met you somewhere before?". Each of those times in the past, I patiently declined to have met him before. It happened again today in the Library, and I had to give it back on his face saying "You must have asked me this question... God knows how many times". Not having done such a thing ever before, I just turned around and moved without waiting for his reaction. Poor fellow, he won't forget my face from now on, and probably will make an effort to remember faces which he has already given a shot with his propositions!

I guess life would be boring without all these little incidents....

Groceries Shopping

It's a Sunday morning, I get up a little late than usual, finish my ablutions and go to the refrigerator with the sole desire for a hot cup of coffee, only to find that the milk is over! Well, when I was in Bangalore, this scenario was just a situation. All I had to do is to walk up to the bakery, which just around the corner of our road, get the milk and that's it!

The very same scenario (described above) seems like a problem now (here in the US). To explain a little more about the things that I need to do now to solve the above problem is:

1. Get dressed with 2-3 layers of warm clothes (it's freaking cold at this time of the year)
2. Walk up to the car in the parking lot (believe me, it is an activity in itself when it's snowing heavily)
3. Start up the car so that it warms up
4. Clear off the snow from all of the windows and the windscreens.
5. Drive up to the nearest grocery store
6. Find parking space for the car
7. Take the huge shopping cart (even if you need just a couple of items)
8. Pickup the can of milk etc from the shelves
9. Get into the queue for paying for the stuff
10. Drive back home

After all this struggle, I feel I really deserve a cup of coffee. I realize what a privilege it was in India to have those bakeries and groceries stores just around the corner, at walkable distances. And not to forget, the enviable weather!

Now when the weekend comes, I am happy to find some time for myself. However towards the end of the Sunday, it's time for us to replenish our supply of groceries. Now there two kinds of groceries that we Indians end up getting here in the US. The regular groceries (from the American super stores) and the Indian groceries (all our Indian stuff for cooking, from the Indian store). This is the most dreaded time of the whole week, I hate to spend 2 hours for the activity of buying groceries.But I am helpless! There is no way out for this. I guess one stop shops have this painful tradeoff.

The reason for blogging this thought was to reaffirm to myself that there are a lot of things around us which are really good and convenient, but we won't realize it until we have to deal with more difficult alternatives for the same things. When I am back in India, I will definitely make sure to enjoy the very convenience of simple grocery shopping.

In love with the city...

It is quite interesting to see how people fall in love with places. Most people are bonded with the city where they grew up, others have an attachment with the place where they've studied or worked. Once the bond is formed, no matter where they go, the love for their 'beloved home' doesn't perish.

I have been observing the profiles of numerous bloggers, where in they have to mention the place that they 'belong' to. And there are umpteen instances where people have mentioned more than one places, as if someone's asking them to justify the reason why they've mentioned the current place where they are dwelling in and not their favorite place!

Some such examples:
Place: Mumbai, now in Pune, India
Place: London/Bangalore
Place: Austin (for now), Mumbai (forever).

I wonder what makes a person fall in love with a place. This trend is noticeable especially in people from the big cities. Apparently, every metropolitan or a cosmopolitan has its inherent spirit which all the people living in that place share. This spirit is what makes them stick to the place despite all the hardships and the daily struggles of commuting and living. These people love to identify themselves as New Yorkers or Parisians , or even Mumbaiyyas.

I guess once we accept a place as home, nothing can change the feeling and no other place can live up to that sense of belonging!