Saturday Shots: Thinker

The trend in blogging world is to post a picture on Wednesday as “Wordless Wednesday” which is well and good. However, considering my writing pattern of writing more post during the weekdays than weekends as well as the drop in visitor during the weekend, I have decided to do a photo post every Saturday instead of Wednesday. So here goes the first post on “Saturday Shots” (I initially thought of naming the series as “Silent Saturday Shot”, but knowing me, these will be hardly silent).

Title: Weight of the world

Location: Stanford, CA

Date: 2007

Disqus?

I know, I know, I have been lazy about replying to the comments lately. Part of it is the depression and schedule, but part of it is also that I miss the disqus application I had on the older format of the blog. Its a neat little application that allows me to reply back to comments instead writing another comment. However, a few people complained about the problems faced while commenting using disqus.

So here is the question: Is disqus really causing a lot of trouble, in case you are using on your blog or have used it for commenting? I am seriously considering to have it back on my blog. Does anyone have a strong opinion about that?

P.S.: I know, I know, this is my blog and I can do whatever I want with it and I don't need anyone's approval for that but I will still like to hear from you before I make this decision.

Hectic Life aka the Real Life

Yeah, yeah, you heard me. I have finally descended in the real world ans started a real job. I now have regular work hours, regular lunch hour, and hopefully, from tomorrow, a regular exercise routine. I have been trying to adjust in this regularity which involves waking up 5 in the morning (I am in office by 6AM, though I must add that these odd working hours are by choice) and sleeping by 9ish. I haven't achieved the second part yet and so I am constantly sleep deprived, which explains my disappearance for past two weeks (before that I was too depressed as I was going to become a regular person).

Hopefully as this routine sets in and I start sleeping at expected hour, I will be able to become a regular at my blog again but its not my top priority at the moment (yes, I have already started prioritizing my tasks). I am still missing Stanford and bay area miserably. More importantly, I am missing my irregular student life. And please don't start with the normal pep talk about how I will be earning now and all that non-sense. My friends have already gone through those and they don't work. I know I can't be miserable forever and I have to eventually snap out of it but it's not a command that you give to me and I will be out of it. I am not a computer. It's a process and it will take some time. So bear with me.

Anyway, I am writing this quick post to let you guys know that I am here and I do have a lot things I want to write about (including last week's Glee episode of grilled chessus), but it might take me some time. So please be patient with me and I will be back soon.

P.S.: If you haven't been watching Glee, I highly recommend that show. And if you don't live in US, I hope you might be able to find them online. As I live here, I have no way of knowing whether the link I posted here works internationally or not. But believe me it's a show worth watching. I wish they could make a bollywood version of it though I will be very cautious if they do, unless its done by the team that produced "Dekh bhai dekh".

Kya jamana aa gaya hai

(What has this world come to)

Honestly. So I bought a new GPS (my old GPS does not have advance lane guidance which makes it useless in this big city). I was very happy with this new GPS when suddenly something caught my eye on its FIVE-inch screen (its huge for a GPS).

“Eat Endless Shrimp at Red Lobster”

I stared at it for 5 secs (I was driving, couldn’t have stared longer than that). I thought it was a fluke or malware or whatever. Next time, same thing happened. MY GPS WAS SHOWING ADVERTISMENTS IN REAL TIME!! Granted it didn’t know that I hate sea-food so there is a fat chance of me trying out eating endless shrimp but I watched the Red Lobster pass me by, nevertheless. Something I wouldn’t have noticed, had my GPS wasn’t so particular to point it out. And who knows, may be with time it will learn my preferences and advertize accordingly. Isn’t that’s what Google and Facebook etc are doing?

I mean what’s next? Picking up random words from my conversation on cell phone and then advertizing about them on it? They already advertize based on your search pattern and site visited. This is getting way beyond invasion of privacy.

What do you think?

P.S.: Other than this annoying feature I love my new GPS. It actually gives me the speed limit of the road I am travelling on. True that most of time they don’t match the speed limit posted on the road but at least they have always shown a lower speed limit than posted one. At least I will not get a ticket for speeding.

Thinking aloud

So few days back, as I was leaving California, I went to an Indian restaurant with some friends. We landed there around lunch time, and as almost all the Indian restaurant in states have buffet for lunch hour (really, what’s up with that?), we opted for that. None of us had a clue whether this restaurant was a north Indian or south Indian cuisine and they had both north Indian and south Indian dishes in buffet menu. I first attempted some dosa with sambhar in my first round which, btw, was delicious. However during the second round, I went for north Indian dishes and realize that this was in fact a  south Indian restaurant (and a non-vegetarian one on that. They could have fooled me). Reason you ask? The baigan bharta had jeera (cumin) as well as curry leaves in it. Seriously! Jeera with curry leaves.

Honestly, I don’t get why south Indian cooks insist on mixing south Indian spices as curry leaves or rai (mustard seeds) in any and all north Indian dishes they prepare. I will never add jeera in a sambhar instead of rai (mustard seeds). EVER. Just imagine how will that taste like? So now can you understand my distaste when I discover south Indian spices in north Indian food? They simply don’t taste right. Period.

Normally I refrain from ordering a north Indian dish in a south Indian restaurant or a south Indian dish in a north Indian restaurant. If I want to eat north Indian dish, I will go to a north Indian restaurant and vice-versa. Simple. But I am not sure what to order when they prefer not to specify which cuisine they subscribe to, and the name of the restaurant is not obvious, and then, to top it all, they offer both options. I don’t have problem with either cuisine. I just want them separated from each other. Please don’t mix them up. They both have some great tasting . Why spoil any of them?

P.S.: 1. This reminds me of an ex-room-mate of mine (she was south Indian) who insisted that I don’t know how to make rotis (aka phulka), as I don’t put any oil on it. I tried to explain that that’s how we make roti in north India. She wasn’t convinced. And then one day when I was making parthas, she started screaming at me that I lied to her and we do in fact put oil on our rotis. I tried to explain to her that this is what we call a partha and not a roti. We don’t normally put oil on it unless you count people who like to put ghee on it afterwards (we, as in our family, normally don’t unless we have guests). But she was intend on proving me wrong and telling me how I don’t know my own culture and food habits! Needless to say, we went our separate ways soon after.

2. I should also mention that I have some great south Indian friends and this post is not about south Indian culture or people. I just don’t like people mixing the spices like that.

Wordless Wednesday: Not Bad, huh?

That’s how my new room looks like. As I said its a nice looking apartment. Note the phrase “nice looking”, that’s what it is. The building material is actually pretty poor quality. Paint is already chipping off, carpet is frayed and spotted (I haven’t been here for two weeks!). But look-wise its a good looking apartment and costs me same as my previous apartment. I guess I was lucky to land this deal.

I know its a bit personal but I don’t really have anything else to post. Haven’t felt comfortable enough to venture around to take pics in the new place. I will soon, I hope.

Suggestions for Mapping Software Companies

So the other day as I was trying to get to my destination using my now-a-days ever-confused GPS (Disha), I found myself driving in a seedy part of the town. Being new in a big city can be scary that way. You don’t know which turn will lead you to a place where you can be simply “at a wrong place at a wrong time” victim. As I drove away (as fast as I could) from that place, it occurred to me what if the GPS (or even the online mapping sites as google maps, mapquest or yahoo maps) have a system to warn about such a neighborhood.

I understand that such a system will have a lot of implications, including the real estate prices but it will help people like me who have no idea what so ever about this new place. May be they don’t have to downright announce a place to be unsafe but instead give some kind of crime index or something similar. A warning before cruising such areas can reduce the shock value at the least and put the stranger-in-the-town on their guard. Like this poor guy who came to bay area for a job interview at Google and for some reason, was in the shady Oakland. He was murdered for a mere $17. Having lived in bay area for 6 years, I know to avoid visiting Oakland (or Richmond, or East Palo Alto), if I can help it. Guess he didn’t know that.

I don’t want to end up like him. Seriously.

And while they are at it, it will really help if these GPS have a small text in some corner, indicating the maximum speed limit allowed on the road (if they already don’t have it. My GPS is around 3 years old so I have no idea about current development in this field). Again, stranger-in-the-town and state at times miss these signs since we are trying very hard to find our way and avoid having an accident at the same time. I really don’t want to get a ticket when I don’t have any address for it to be sent to. I will miss all the court summons and subpoena  associated with it as well and very soon I will become a fugitive (oh yes, I have a wild imagination. The story actually ends with me living in Canada under an assumed name and being found by the authorities using my blog. This blog. I will never leave you guys!).

Anyway, just few suggestion that I would find useful in my GPS or online map search. Is someone listening?

Wordless Wednesday: Emotions

 

Title: Tears

Location: Stanford, CA

Date: September 4, 2010

The Emotions of Relocation

So the relocation company helping me out with the move, sent me this document titled “Your Positive Relocation”. According to this “brochure”, there are five emotional stages of relocation: 1. Confusion & Denial; 2. Anger; 3. Loss & Depression; 4. Resentment; and finally, 5. Acceptance. I think I am somewhere between stage two and three. I remember being in stage one for quite a long time, actually till a week before the move at which point I could no longer deny it. And now its a mixture of the next two stages.

So my stuff arrived four days ago, which is good, except it looks so alien in this new apartment. It simply doesn’t belong here. To start with my student time furniture and stuff is no match to this nice, a bit upscale apartment (one advantage of being in Texas: for the same price, I get a better apartment in a nice place). It just give a feeling of being out of place, old and dirty. And it didn’t help when one of the mover commented on the weight and size (27”) of my TV which is unlike the TVs these days that are light, big, and very portable.

The house is a mess at the moment. I didn’t know how much stuff I have till it was time to move: about 50 boxes to fit everything I owned plus furniture, cycle, TV etc and not to mention the two suitcases (the big ones, you know the ones that every Indian living abroad owns. Well almost every Indian) that I had with me when I flew to Texas. Honestly, I could have organized everything much faster than its taking me. I just don’t have the spirit or enthusiasm to do so. Everything fitted so perfectly in my old home. I bought those things for that home because they worked there. They were the right fit. Now I don’t know how to arrange these old things in the new apartment. I just don’t. It doesn’t work. And again the feeling of these things of not belonging in this new place overwhelms me and I give up.

Its the small things too. Like every time I fondle with my keys to search for the apartment key, I automatically look for the silver key I have been using for past five years to discover with a surprise (each and every time) that it’s no longer there. I have this golden alien key that opens the apartment door. Weird.

Or,when I simply walk out of the door to do something, anything, I realize that I have no idea where the nearest store, or post office, or bank, or ANYTHING is. I have to walk back and switch on the laptop to find it.

Or, the fact that I don’t even know whether its safe to drink water directly from the tap. In my own home.

Or when the intrusion alarm start beeping whenever I open the balcony door. EACH AND EVERY TIME. I am simply not used to having an intrusion alarm.

Or the fact that my GPS, my old and faithful GPS, Disha (yes, I have a habit of naming my gadgets), don’t have an advanced lane guidance which makes it impossible to use it in this big city of road mazes where every highway has two names and has a toll for using certain lanes.

The fact that I am living off my savings at the moment doesn’t help either.

I can only hope the stage five arrives soon and brings some kind of joy with it.

P.S.: Sorry for the disjointed post. I just wrote down the train of thoughts, I guess. This post very much feel like my house at the moment: A mess.

UPDATE: I replied to all the previous comments. Sorry for the delay.

An Update

Why is it that when you don’t have access to something, you want to use it only then? I don’t have any internet connection today and today is the day I want to write a post. I guess it has something to do with human nature. Anyone wants to philosophize?

Oh well, the reason I haven’t been posting lately is because I moved approximately 1880 miles, from beautiful, picturesque California to plain, boring Texas. Oh why, yes, I am certainly not very happy about with the move. What gave it away?

Anyway, so today is the day during my entire move that I don’t have internet access. I will get my internet connection tomorrow, that is, if everything goes well and there are no technical difficulties. Yet, today is the day I have been itching to write a post since morning. So I found an insecure internet access and using that to write this update.

How has Texas treated me so far, you ask? Oh well, on the first day in this place, I got a flat tire. On my rental car (if you have rented a car, you would know the hassle it can cause). And then as I was waiting for the roadside assistance to arrive, it started pouring down. With proper thunder and lightening (it was some kind of omen, perhaps?). Poor guy from the road side assistance was completely drenched after he finished replacing the tire.

The second day in this place: I got drenched while looking at different prospective residents. However, I did find an apartment that I like (more or less), hence it was not a complete waste of time and energy.

And today, the third day in this place: I got drenched in sweat while trying to buy basic supplies for my new house. Why, oh why, every super market has to be so big in Texas? I get that everything is big in Texas but seriously there should be a limit on being big. I visited two super market and it took me 6 hours (honestly!) of driving and walking to get handful of cleaning supplies. I could have gotten the same things in under an hour in California. (Yes, I am missing California).

Oh, BTW, I shifted to my new apartment today morning. Its a nice sweet apartment but this is the first time in my life that I have decided to live all by myself. I am not sure how will this pan out. I have always had a room-mate. Although my room-mates are not my best friends in the whole wide world with whom I share intimate secrets but they usually end up being a decent friend whose company I enjoy and cherish. It is weird and kind of lonely without one. Hopefully, with time, I will get used to it.

And hopefully, with time, I will get used to this new place as well and won’t hate it as much. Someday, one day.

And yet again, I rambled, when all I wanted to say: Today is the first day of a new life. New place, new friends (well, technically, I do have some old friends here), new adventures. Life is kind of scary at the moment. Wish me luck!

P.S.: I will reply to all the comments soon. Things are getting kind of settled down now, so hopefully I will be able to become regular on blogosphere again. And then, I do need a ranting place again. So I will be back. 

Illogical Logics

“Her home was so messy.”
“But my home is even messier than hers.”
“Oh that’s alright, you are not married, na.”

How does cleanliness of someone’s house is a factor of gender, age, or marital status is beyond me.  To me its more about priorities and cleaning the house doesn’t make to top of that list for me. If it is same for a married woman who is juggling office, home and kids with what-so-ever no help from the husband, I sympathize with her. In that case, in all fairness, she has more right to have a messy house than me. Doesn't she?

**********************************************************************************

“So what did you have dinner today?”
“Um, toor daal, baigan ki sabji, roti, bonndi ka raita, salad and some achar.”
“You cooked all that just for yourself? I can never motivate myself to cook that much just for me.”

Honestly what are they trying to imply? Should I starve myself  to death because I am not married and have no one to cook for? Just because they need someone in their life to define their existence, it doesn’t mean everyone else should too.

**********************************************************************************

“You must finish your food. Do you know how many people in this world die of starvation. Think of them and finish your food.”


But how does overeating and eventually getting sick or gaining weight unnecessarily is going to help starving people? It’s not like that if I overeat, the surplus amount go to their stomach. I would happily give my food to any of them but why, oh why, should I torture myself? It doesn’t ease anyone’s pain, instead just give me some stomach ache.

Wordless Wednesday: Another Twilight

Title: Enjoying Sunset

Location: Lake Tahoe, CA

Date: July 20, 2010

Tuesday Tag: The Countdown

Post-defense-lazing-around means I don’t procrastinate anymore, which, in turn, means that I have a blogger’s block. Add a badly sprained ankle in the mix, I have absolutely nothing to blog about. Unless you want to listen to me complain about my sprained ankle, how hard it is to use crutches and how the the timing for having a sprained ankle couldn’t be worse. Yeah, I thought not.

Anyway, just to keep this blog alive, I borrowed this tag from PB. Just letting you know, I am still here. Will start blogging regularly again as soon as I start working again.

Ten hows:

1. How did you get one of your scars? Trying to get my bottle (I was two) from under the bed. Apparently, not as simple a task as it sounds.
2. How did you celebrate your last birthday? By eating Rasmalai.
3. How are you feeling at this moment? Bored.
4. How did your night go last night? Uneventful. Unfortunately.
5. How did you do in high school? Not too bad in spite being a dork and a nerd. Yes both at the same time.
6. How did you get the shirt you’re wearing? Free gift from a company while interviewing with them on-campus. There are advantages of being a student.
7. How often do you see your best friend(s)? At least once a week.
8. How much money did you spend last month? A lot. But then I went to Lake Tahoe and Disney land with friends. So not complaining.
9. How old do you want to be when you get married? I find this question to be offensive. Or, may be, I am just turning into an old spinster.
10. How old will you be at your next birthday? 32.

Nine whats:

1. Your mother’s name? Really? Creativity is dead. (No, that’s not my mother’s name)
2. What did you do last weekend? Attended a friend’s graduation ceremony, took some pictures and slept a lot.
3. What is the most important part of your life? Love.
4. What would you rather be doing? Sleeping.
5. What did you last cry over? Watching the song “Kar chale hum fida jano-tan sathiyon”. That song always brings tears in my eyes.
6. What always makes you feel better when you’re upset? Some pampering.
7. What’s the most important thing you look for in a significant other? Compassion.
8. What are you worried about? Packing and moving.
9. What did you have for breakfast? Some fresh air.

Eight yous:

1. Have you ever liked someone who had a girlfriend/boyfriend? Yes.
2. Have you ever had your heartbroken? Yes.
3. Have you ever been out of the country? I have been out of a lot of countries and inside few of them. Which country are you talking about?
4. Have you ever done something outrageously dumb? Does falling in love count?
5. Have you ever been back stabbed by a friend? Yes.
6. Have you ever had sex on the beach? And have sand in my hair. NO WAY.
7. Have you ever dated someone younger than you? No.
8. Have you ever read an entire book in one day? All the Harry Potter books from book 4 onward.

Seven whos:

1. Who was the last person you saw? My room-mate. Ten minutes ago.
2. Who was the last person you texted? My friend J.
3. Who was the last person you hung out with? My room-mate. In our living room. We watched the movie Dragonfly.
4. Who was the last person to call you? My mom.
5. Who did you last hug? My friend on Saturday while congratulating her on her graduation.
6. Who is the last person who texted you? My friend J.
7. Who was the last person you said “I love you” to? None of your business.

Six wheres:

1. Where does your best friend(s) live? Stanford and Puerto Rico.
2. Where did you last go? Post Office.
3. Where did you last hang out? Living Room. Oh ok, Dishdash (Mediterranean restaurant) for lunch on Saturday with my friends.
4. Where do you go to school? Stanford.
5. Where is your favorite place to be? Stanford.
6. Where did you sleep last night? On my bed in my room. Though, now you mentioned it, I will try to sleep on the kitchen counter tonight.

Five dos:

1. Do you think anyone likes you? Of course, I am a very likeable person. Wait till they really get to know me.
2. Do you ever wish you were someone else? Always. From Cinderella to a student at Hogwarts to the heroine (heroine and not actress) of one of those chick-flicks to Doctor Who’s companion. What can I say, I have an over-active imagination.
3. Do you know the muffin man? You mean the one who lives in Drury Lane? Barely.
4. Does the future scare you? Oh yes. However, it also excites me more than it frightens me.
5. Do your parents know about your blog? Nope.

Four whys:

1. Why are you best friends with your best friend?  So that I could have a best friend.
2. Why did you get into Blogging? Procrastination.
3. Why did your parents give you the name you have? Because they had to name me some thing. I guess they didn’t want to keep calling me “bachchi” or “baby” or “ladki” or something similar.
4. Why are you doing this survey? Trying to break my blogging dry spell.

Three ifs:

1. If you could have one super power what would it be? Mind-reading. Telepathy would be cool too.
2. If you could go back in time and change one thing, would you? Nah. Despite its up and downs life isn’t too bad.
3. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could bring one thing, what would you bring? A fishing boat.

Two would-you-evers:

1. Would you ever get back together with any of your ex’s if they asked you? Never. There is a reason they are my ex.
2. Would you ever shave your head to save someone you love? Sure. What’s the big deal?

One last question:

1. Are you happy with your life right now? Depends on the day you ask me. Sometimes yes, sometimes no (Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa). 

A free for all tag. Have fun.

Wordless Wednesday: Twilight

Title: Sunset

Location: Universal Studio, Los Angeles, CA

Date: August 3, 2010

Challenge of Friendship

I have been trying to catch up with the Blogosphere these days (though not commenting on everything I read but I am reading), and as it happens so often when you are in blogosphere, there are thoughts bubbling at the surface. And sometimes, very unrelated topics click perfectly with each other. Like the current challenge at Blogadda (and no I am not participating again, just thinking aloud): ‘Friends Forever’, and a post by Shilpa on ‘the other woman’. Completely unrelated? May be, may be not.

You see its all good and nice in a friendship as long as life is simple and easy. The real challenge of friendship is when your friends does something that according to your moral compass is wrong. It can be anything from having an extra marital affair (if they are married), or having an affair with a married man/woman, or as we desis (belonging to Indian subcontinent) are raised to be homophobic and transphobic, you discover (in case you are still homophobic/transphobic) they are gay, transsexual, transgender, or even cross dresser. What do you do then?

What do you say to your friend when they share with you something that according to your moral compass is wrong? You condemn them and walk away, or you stay and support them? And by supporting I mean really supporting, and not trying to get them to change their decision, or ignoring the big elephant in the room (the two approaches that people usually take when they don’t agree with someone else’s decision) but be there for them and tell them it’s okay, as long as they are happy. To hell with right and wrong. Because you know, the rest of the world is going to condemn them anyway (including their family), so will you join the society in condemning them or will you be there for them, as one of the last shoulder for them to cry on (remember family and society is going to condemn you as well for supporting them blindly)? Friends Forever?

Jaan pe bhi khelenge, tere liye le lenge: sabse dushmani

P.S.: Happy Friendship Day. And to all of my friends, who have stood by me and will stand by me again, no matter what: THANK YOU. I promise to be there for you as well, no matter what.