Peekaboo...

Hello there! As is evidenced by the profusion of posts, I am back from a hiatus! (Hush! No groaning please!) Here's to new beginnings...! Cheers!

The power of silence...

8 balls, 19 to win...

India - ah, the land of variety! Religions, Cultures, Languages, Attitudes, Dress, Food, Landscape, People, the whole shebang! But, when it comes to one sport, the distinctions blur and the colors of the nation merge into one - Blue!

The power that cricket holds over the country is indescribable, unfathomable and utterly supreme! What is it about cricket that levels the playing field for people from all walks of life? Barriers of caste, creed and social status fade away into oblivion outside the glass walls of a Philips electronics showroom during an India-Australia match. The high flying exec asks Dagdu, the cobbler, 'Sachin ne kitna banaya?'; the Sikh cab driver is seen elaborating on Pathan's wonderful bowling in the match to Ajay Rao; Yuppie Victor James and his project manager, Dilip Ghosh are placing bets on who will win the game; And then, good ole' Maulana sahab enquires with the exuberant teenage girl, 'Kiske saath match hai?'; There are murmurs of ' 8 balls, 19 runs - Jeetna bahut mushkil hai' which are silenced by 'Abey, Rahul aur Sachin hai na, pakka bana denge!'

And then,the moment arrives. McGrath pitches one outside the off stump, a rare full length delivery and Dravid launches into an exquisite texbook cover drive, piercing the off side field, the ball racing away to the fence, eager to embrace the Coke signboard, clinching yet another Indian victory!!! The motley crew outside the Philips showroom explodes! Unbridled screams of joy, unrestrained high fives and generous celerbatory hugs to all and sundry, followed by passionate punches in the air to commemorate the adrenaline rush! In that one transitory instant, India becomes one!

Ah, the magic of cricket and India!
Well, more like - Ah!the magic of cricket in India!!

Saare jahan se achcha...

Movie after movie after movie...

The last few weeks have been interesting. I have been studying hard and partying harder! :) My routine was - study for an hour, then take a break for half an hour. At one point it got so bad that I was studying for 30 minutes and taking a break for the rest of the hour. (In fact, right since my school days, my concentration levels have failed to exceed the 1 hour mark).So, that gave me plenty of opportunities to catch up on some movie watching. As an aside, I love watching movies and thinking about plots/scenes/screenplay/visuals for a movie that I aspire to make some day.

Thus, I have had the chance to watch about twenty different movies in the last one month. And the grand list:
O Brother where art thou
Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa
Bhopal Express
Kisi Se Na Kehnaa
Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi
Good Will Hunting
Chashme Baddoor
Iqbal
Teen Deewarein
Kal Ho Naa Ho
Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina
Yun Hota to Kya Hota
RainMan
Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part 2
Team America
Dhoom2
Omkara
Corporate
Mixed Doubles

With the exception of Dhoom2, I wholeheartedly recommend all of the rest. Some more so than the others, but I assure you that none of them will be a waste of your time.

Phew!

The whole 9 yards...

"What's with men and sarees??!!!", they exclaimed, in unison. Here's my take:

A saree is an intrinsically graceful and elegant piece of clothing.
Thus,it endows the wearer with greater grace and elegance, at least, that's how it's perceived. (Assuming, one can carry it off without being awkward).

There is a greater sense of perceived maturity associated with a woman wearing a saree.

Now, who doesn't love grace, elegance and maturity, right? :)

Most Indian men like Indian women. The saree brings out the Indianness of a desi woman far more than a skirt (I love seeing women in those too, but then that would be a digression!) or a pair of jeans. Never underestimate the appeal/power of the 'ethnic factor'.

And, finally, it's also about demand and supply. How often do you see a pleasant looking twenty something woman wearing a saree? As is the wont of our generation, women prefer the comfort/flexibility/ease of slipping into a pair of jeans to wearing a saree (not that they look any less attractive when they wear jeans). Thus, the less you see them in a saree, the more you crave it/them.

And, that's why, the sight of a lovely young Indian woman wearing a saree tends to warm the cockles of many an Indian man's heart.

That being said, for the record, I find women wearing a salwar kameez as appealing as those that wear sarees(all other factors remaining same/comparable).

On a tangent:

My mum always says - a saree is one twisted (no pun intended) piece of clothing.

One can wear it in the most conservative and elegant fashion and cover every inch.
However, a saree also lends itself easily to creativity, whereby one can find every 'window' of opportunity to tease. There is a thin line between being alluring and going overboard when flaunting curves. That middle path, is probably the best and perhaps the toughest to attain.

Thoughts...?

The joy of small things...

Sometimes, it's the simple pleasures in life that matter. A bug in your code that you fixed. The new shirt that you look good in. That pat on the back from your boss. That thought provoking movie you saw. That funny comic you read. The bombay chutney sandwich that tasted so yum! That shy smile from a cutie. That neat blog post you made! The affectionate hug from your mum. The pride in your dad's voice when you tell him you have started making six figures. The sexy, invigorating masala chai that your friend's wife makes. The radiance on a kid's face when he's given an extra large ice cream cone. That familiar alcohol induced buzz on a Saturday night. The hole in one you made or the sixer that you hit. That stupendous view of the sun setting beyond the mountains....so on and so forth.

So, the next time you experience one of these (& many more) - rejoice, celebrate, give a high five, smile, laugh, feel happy, punch the air, whatever. Enjoy the moment!

Cheers!

Life in the fast lane...

One of the things I love about America is the road network. Thanks to Eisenhower's vision, i.e. the interstate system, there is never a shortage of a several miles of roads that you can zip at 70 mph. Road trips are one facet of American life I have come to absolutely love. When I was a grad student, I made several memorable trips.

Razdan and I drove from Austin to Raleigh in a span of 24 hours (with a 3 hour halt in Forest, MS where we slept in the confines of our car, in the parking lot of a Patel owned Super 8 motel that had no availability). The trip is fresh in my memory as the morning dew on leaves. We touched seven different states - Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and finaly North Carolina. We saw a sign for a place called Delhi in Mississippi, we crossed the line where time zones change from Central to Eastern and listened to more than our normal share of classic rock. It was thrilling and exciting!

And then, when Razdan got a job in Chicago, I drove with him from Raleigh to Chicago, a 16 hour trip made longer by the fact that we took a detour to Detroit to pick up another friend of ours. That Sunday afternoon, the 3 of us sat on the steps of a pedestrian Indian restaurant for a few hours sipping on multiple cups of some of the best chai in the continental US, while pontificating on a slew of topics under the sun and moon.

Then of course, is that memorable trip I made with Sachin to Pittsburgh, Philly, DC and back to Raleigh. Wait, in fact, we made that trip twice over the course of a year. The second time round, Razdan accompanied us and we actually stopped by Penn State as well. Somehow, the DC to Raleigh leg was jinxed. The first time round, my car got wrecked by a drunk 18 year old who did not quite comprehend the concept of 'red means stop'. I was probably a few micro seconds away from getting a few bones broken for good. Thank you God! The second time round, Sachin somehow perceived that speed limits in Virginia were not to be taken seriously and got pulled over for doing 87 in a 65 zone. (At one point, I think he thought he was in a Formula 1 race).

The first Pennsylvania trip was more memorable. We drove through the Appalachian mountains in mid October and witnessed some spell binding foliage. When we were close to Pittsburgh, we had to drive through a tunnel. And when we emerged out of the tunnel, we were on an imposing bridge over one of the rivers in Pittsburgh, staring directly at the Pittsburgh skyline. Breathtaking!

There were some other fascinating '16 people' road trips I was on - from Raleigh to DC and back; to the Smokies and back; to the Outer Banks and back. I will save those for a rainy day.

In the summer and fall of 2003, my cousins and I made a few weekend trips from Boston to NYC and back. So much so, that the baristas at the rest stops got to know us on a first name basis!! Pachai Nirame blasting from the sound system, spectacular north eastern fall hues and cruising along Interstate 95 at 75 mph. What a ride! (Best timing: three and a quarter hours from harvard square to times square).

It's been a while and I am itching to get on the road again. Hop in, if you want to live in the fast lane!

Fifty...!

This is the fiftieth post on my blog. Yay! :)

Underdog...

In any sport, I have always rooted for the underdog. Team India and the Boston Red Sox are exceptions. Obviously.

In any sport I play, I prefer to be on the less strong team and make my team win rather than just play my part by just joining the winning team.

Even in other facets of life, I love being the underdog. I find it fun, exciting and challenging to be the underdog and then coming out on top.
No one expects much from you. But, you know how good you are. And over time, with your ability and hard work, you prove a point!

How about you? Do you root for the underdog or prefer to go with the prevailing strong and mighty force?

One more thing...

I just realized that I love reading my posts! Again and agian. Literary narcicissm (excuse the spelling) at it's best!

Thought for the evening...

Inspired by one of Stern's posts, the thought for the evening is:
Live it up bitches! :)

Toll baaje...

This maybe much ado about nothing. But, hey, I *OWN* this blog! :P

The new toll road (Loop 1 and SH45) are now open in Austin! I am thrilled and excited. I took the toll way yesterday (Of course, we are not yet paying tolls. An oft practiced clever ploy - the government wants to have a 'test period' to make sure their toll systems are working right. In the meantime, they hand out TxTags to all and sundry they see on the street (or the Slanted E campus, as the case maybe). People started using the 'free' toll ways and get addicted to them. Two months down the line, the government concludes that 'all systems are go' and puts the squeeze on the 'crap, it's 7.45 and I'm still stuck in traffic and I have a meeting at 8' commuter. Bravo!)

Anyhoo...roads and bridges and such are monuments to human thought and progress and ability. (In fact, Golden Gate is one of my most favorite spots in the contiguous United States. I am told I will fall in love with the glaciers in Alaska, so I have added Alaska to my excel spreadsheet of 'places to visit'.) It's an ode to their vision, to their dreams and aspirations. Little do we realize that this new toll way is the culmination of months and years of blood, sweat and tears of men, women (and those in between). Kudos to them all. Roads and bridges hold a warm place in my heart (yes, I am weird. But, I don't think there was a debate about that anyway!) They connect people, dreams, hopes, ideas, thoughts. Every new road and every new bridge is the extra yard we are making in human progress. In fact, that's one of the reasons I love travel as well. You get see new places, people, experience new cultures, the whole nine yards. Stimulating to say the least. I digress again...

Driving along the tollway was pure pleasure. I could now get from parking lot to parking lot with a median time of 12 minutes. I suppose anything that's new and fun always holds that special intrigue and fun factor. We are all explorers and most of us love to try 'new things', whatever it may be. The 'flavor of the month' syndrome.

I was on some elevated roads on the way. I began to see the same old strip malls and the same old apartment complexes in new light (or, I guess, in new elevation! :P ). It reminded me of how new and different perspectives of the same place, situation or people refresh your mind. You start to notice things you never had. You appreciate what you previously had not.

That brings me to a related issue. Perceptions.
Isn't it amazing how we meet someone and in a short time frame, form opinions about them or have a certain perception about them. Perhaps we are so quick to judge them or categorize or box them into a familiar category that we do not allow that person the liberty of being himself or herself. Let people be. Do we fail to do that?

Since the recurring theme about this piece has been digressions and abrupt transitions and the like, I shall conclude by saying -
Ok, I will get off my soapbox now.

Drive safe!
PS: I think this is my longest post ever. I know a few who will not make it past the first two paragraphs. For the ones who hung in there, pat pat.

Fall...

So, fall is here (Ok, there's not really much 'fall' in Austin, but you get the idea of me trying to set the stage for this piece.).
Leaves are changing colors and swaying gently down onto the ground. Fall intrinsically lends itself to some stupendous visuals (Pachai Nirame, anyone?). The east coast, and more specifically, the north east and more specifically, New England is home to some of the best fall colors in the world. (Yes, given my aversion to the Americo centric view of the 'world', this is one example where my usage of 'world' in this sentence may not be construed as hyperbole! Granted, I am yet to see fall in Austria. Maybe, some day. But, I digress...). Bring out the additional layer of clothing folks! Enjoy maadi.