Changing First Diaper...

I changed my nephew’s diaper. This was the first diaper that I have changed. I traveled half way around the world to do this and meet my nephew for the first time. But I loved it!!

Tanush, that’s his name. He is 4 months old and is adorable; he has big eyes and chubby cheeks. However, I cannot understand how people can see who a baby looks like. I heard people saying “Tanush has his dad’s eyes or mom’s face”. Give me a break!! He is cute and thus definitely nothing like his Mom or Dad. I will just say that he looks like a baby.

Tanush is always upto something. Though he is 4 months old; he is always moving/ doing something. He is active and cannot remain steady for a minute. The only time that I have seen him steady is during poo-poo, pee-pee or when he is asleep. Otherwise, he is active all the time. For all the activity he does, he needs a powernap of only 15/20 min and then is ready for couple of hours of fun and frolic. He cannot crawl as yet but attempts to push his legs in vain. I am sure that he will walk earlier than expected. Tanush turns on his stomach and tries to move ahead. He tries too hard until he is exhausted. He rests his head for a little while and is ready for the move again. Finally, after a few attempts, he has used all his energy and now needs food. Tanush is a LEO and I can see it why. He requires constant attention and enjoys when people are around him or taking care of him. You dare not ignore him!! I took care of him during my visit back home. And that means playing with him and changing his diapers. I had never it before. It is tougher than expected as the baby moves continuously. It is funny to see him stare at you while you clean him and change him.

Babies can change the whole mood/ schedule of the house. He is the center of attraction and also the subject of discussion. With a baby in the house, every thing is exciting and every one is busy.

My mom, dad, brother and sister-in-law are always busy; busy to feed him, clean him, play with him. I wonder how my brother can watch ‘POGO’ (kids channel) or ‘Cartoon Network’. But today, he seems to enjoy those channels. Mom has a different wavelength with kids. She seems to talk to kids as if they understand and surprisingly the kids respond to her as well. I wonder how!! And of course, my sister’s kid (Vedant) has to see Tanush first thing when he visits us. There is different bonding between Vedant and Tanush. Vedant jumps everywhere and anywhere while Tanush’s eyes follow him everywhere. Tanush will stop crying and forget everything to watch Vedant dance around the house. Manjiri and Samir argue a lot; they did that before and even today. The only difference is that today they argue over the kid more than over other topics. It is funny how Samir and Manjiri will argue since Tanush was left alone for few moments and was crying. Their argument continues while Tanush is busy doing something else and has already forgotten about his loneliness. Sometimes, he seems to enjoy watching his mom and dad fight. It should be amusing for him.

The whole world changes with a child at home. My entire family is running around getting his milk bottle or playing with him; all in all, trying to entertain him every moment when he is awake. Tanush loves a nice bath and massage. He loves being taken care and makes people work for him. He is a King when he is awake and is an innocent baby when he is asleep. These frequent powernaps are not only good breaks for the kid but bigger breaks for the family. It all feels like a kingdom to me. The subjects rest while King sleeps as they know that he will wake up soon and they will have to get back to business.

The Terminal

My flight to India took me to JFK airport in New York. I have never been to this JFK airport before. I couldn't have imagined it better. The city has a big and complex airport.

I was traveling the day before thanksgiving and it is considered as the one of the busiest day for US travelers. My flight from Richmond to New York was a bumpy ride due to the bad weather. It is never a great time in the small single jet planes especially in the not so supportive weather. However, I was least bothered about that since I was already at New York airport. My next flight was 6 hours away and I had to spend that time alone at the terminal.

Did I say alone? I was wrong. There is no way that you are alone in any terminal of any airport and definitely not in New York.

I look around me and I see people. No!! Not dead people like some freak in some freak movie. I see people of every ethnicity and every age; the most diverse crowd that you can ever see. If I forget that I am in New York City, it will nearly impossible for me to identify the country I am in.

I remember the movie ‘Love Actually’ whose theme revolves around people that arrive to meet their loved ones. That was a great story and was apt for the arrival gate. However, I am standing at the departure gate and the theme here is a little different.

One thing that is common for all people at the departure gate is time. Unlike today’s world, people have time at their doorstep. People hate waiting for their flight. However, they do not realize that this is a blessing in disguise. People have to do something with their time in hand. So what do you do?

I look around and see people engrossed in various activities. There is a lady who is walking around a jewelry store. I am fairly confident that she will not buy anything from the store. However, she loves to look at the different designs and loves to have the option of not choosing anything. Her husband (I assume) is sleeping on a bench few yards away holding her bag. I cant help seeing the satisfaction on his face. It’s like a baby face who has just received the best gift he can hope for. Well, how many times will he be able to sleep at 6:30 pm without anybody bothering him.

A British couple is busy checking the flight schedule. They are busy making their plans for the next few hours while their kids cannot stop running around. They are soon joined by few other kids and in no time there will be bunch of kids who will start playing. These kids have never met and I doubt if they will ever meet again. However, that does not dampen their spirit.

I can hear an Indian couple sitting right behind me. I cannot see them (until I turn around) but cannot help myself listen to their conversation. The husband is talking about his wife’s earrings. How many of you guys can admit that they notice their partner’s earrings or talk about them? The wife does not care about this and is happy to answer his questions.

There are people that are busy digging in their burgers/ fries and few that are wandering around the terminal looking at the duty free shops. There are others who are busy on their cell phone and are least bothered about their whereabouts. They are laughing, crying; they are communicating whole heartedly; something that you won’t do at home or at work. People are just being them selves.

The terminal just brings the natural YOU out of everybody. There are no dependencies, liabilities or any chores to complete. This is a time that is normally considered as a waste but is actually important for you to just sit back and relax. It is an unscheduled time; something that is difficult to plan in our day to day life. Everybody is trying to spend time in a way they want to. As you see, even I am doing the same. What else would make me sit and write a blog at any place other than my home?

I can’t help myself being observant and try to put them in words.

"Dude, Where's my Pen?"

This is something I hear at work. My cube mate, Josh has this important question almost everyday.

I have known Josh for more than 3 years but I am his cube mate for just 9 months. There is a lot that I learnt about him in these months and the most important thing that I learnt is that Josh has a hard time not losing his pen. He tries his best but never forgets to forget his pen. I cannot even keep track of the number of pens that he has lost. Josh has never failed to amuse me with this particular habit. He is a smart guy and can remember the finest detail of his work from 3 or 4 years back. However, he has a hard time remembering about his pen that he used few hours ago.

I am always trying to be a friend in need for him. Recently, I have made a habit to keep a few extra pens in my cube. Josh has complete access and freedom to this stock and he can pick up a pen whenever he wants to. This way he doesn’t have to run around looking for a pen. Now, you might ask me, “Why doesn’t Josh stock up pens himself?” However, I have confidence in Josh and am sure it wouldn’t take long time for him to pop the thousand dollar question, “Dude, Where’s my Pen?”

Thus, if you ever happen to visit my desk and see about a dozen pens; please don’t be surprised. I am just stacking up some inventory for the rainy days and also following the 3 cube commandments that are stated below.

1. Five days (i.e. week days) shalt thou work, and not worry about stationary
   
2. Thou shalt share thy pens
   
3. Thou shalt help thy cube mate

Comics can change your Life!!

I recently read that Chandamama turned sixty and remembered my early years as an avid reader.

My introduction to books (non academic) was with “Chandamama”. It was the English version of the marathi “Chandoba” that was already subscribed for my brother and sister. The stories about Indian mythology, history and folk tales filled every issue of the book. Each story had a moral and taught something new and exciting to me. I still remember few stories and the morals that they talked about. The stories engraved lot of good culture and principles that would have taken ages for my parents to sit and explain. Chandamama offered me knowledge about my culture and heritage as well as hooked me on to reading. The other early stage book that taught me to understand good and evil, to respect others and to value friends was “Champak”. I was a big fan of Champak for the number of stories it presented in a single issue.

I pursued my hobby and my hunger for more made me move to other comic books. The next book that caught my attention was “Tinkle”. This is a compilation of strip comic stories about various different people and events. “Supandi” was my favorite while “Kalia, the crow” and “Sambhu Shikari” were always entertaining. Stories of not more than few pages always excited me while single page humors were a great break from homework. I was so latched on Tinkle that I could not sleep without reading few pages from it. I even had a pattern of reading Tinkle. The sequence was to read the title story followed by Sambhu Shikari and then other stories. The single pagers were the last to be read.

Sambhu Shikari was my first hero. It was the same time that I watched “Superman-1” and was fascinated by the superhero powers. My thirst for more superheroes was quenched by “Indrajal Comics”. Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon, Bahadur and several other superheroes lived with me for several years in the books. I even tried few stunts that didn’t have the same positive results as Phantom or Bahadur. I got bruised knees, multiple band-aids and also scolding from my parents for imitating my heroes.

I never liked history in school. There was no fun in learning about dead people and old battles. However, all this was changed by “Amar Chitra Katha”. I should admit that my liking for freedom fighters, great Indian kings as well as great cities and monuments was brought to life by ACK. I can still remember the ACK books that I read at my mom’s school. If my academic books were as good and colorful as the ACK books, I would have never disliked social studies.

My teenage years were dedicated to “Archies”. This book was mix of different culture as well as jokes for my age. The friendship, problems within a group, suspense and mysteries that the book presented were interesting and kept me craving for more. As I grew older, I went from picture/ strip comics to novels like “Hardy Boys”. The mysteries they solved and difficulties they encountered always made me day dream of solving such cases.

I have been reading books for about 20 years and have read various types of books including novels by “Sydney Sheldon”, “Dan Brown”, “Jon Grisham”, etc and even Management books. Books have taught me a lot about the world I live in. The different books I read at various stages of my life have enriched my knowledge differently. I can confidently say that books have mentored and developed me as a person.

In today’s world, we have forgotten the importance of books. The high tech technology has influenced the kids so much that the word “notebook” is applied to laptops. The fun of reading books is fading with time. The childhood hobbies of reading books are getting replaced with computer and video games. The kids are losing vital years of learning to read. John Steinbeck rightly quotes,

“Learning to read is probably the most difficult and revolutionary thing that happens to the human brain and if you don't believe that watch an illiterate adult try to do it”

Sumeet Ki Ainak!!

A paid vacation for Sumeet was the right time for him to visit different places in the US. Asawari and Sumeet had already visited NewYork and DC in a week. They came to Richmond and stayed for couple of days with me. It was a great time showing them the city of Richmond. I have been in Richmond for the last 3 years and more. However, I am still unsure about the places that someone can visit in Richmond. Vaishali has been a victim of my unawareness about Richmond. The only place she could distinctly remember in Richmond is the Barnes and Nobles at Short Pump. She had already warned Asawari about her trip. To add a variety to this flavor, I boldly took Asawari and Sumeet to my workplace. I still do not understand how someone can love his/her workplace. But to my surprise, they loved it. Atleast, it was better than the Barnes and Nobles.

We drove to NJ on Thursday and stayed over at Vaishali's house. The plan was to visit Niagara and check out falling waters if possible. We started from Vaishali's house at 11 a.m. on Friday morning. It was a sunny day and we had a long drive ahead of us. Vaishali had already filled the car with eatables and drinks (non-alcoholic) for the trip. After picking up some more eatables from the Indian store, we were on our way. Sumeet was already on his cell phone calling his cousin in Canada. His cousin wanted to meet us at the falls. Plan was decided and Sumeet was back surfing the ipod for good songs.

Asawari, Vaishali and I were discussing about Sumeet's career opportunities in the US. This had been the hot topic for weeks and was still unresolved. New job, new company and new project were all discussed and all possibilities were analyzed. However, even though the discussions were heated, they still couldn't beat the heat outside. We had to drink a lot of water to avoid dehydration. This high intake of liquid resulted in the unavoidable circumstances when we had to search for an exit ASAP. But faith always plays tricks on you. We could not find a single exit for a long time. We were now expecting to see the "falling waters" in the car itself. After a long time and valiant effort of self-control, we finally managed to find a Mac Donald’s. Many will agree that the relief after such a long wait is beyond comparison.

I have known Sumeet for along time. However, this was the first time that I was on a long trip with him after he was married. Married couples have great topics to discuss and argue. Since, I knew Sumeet and Asawari very well, I was contributing to their arguments whole heartedly. Vaishali was playing safe and was trying to be diplomatic in her comments while I was adding fuel to the fire. Time was flying fast with these chit chats and arguments. We had reached Syracuse by about 3 p.m. and now our stomachs were growling. Long trips do not make me hungry. However, I do have to be considerate towards my passengers as well. We made a pit stop at a Subway.

The argument between Asawari and Sumeet has reached its pinnacle. Both of them were agitated enough and had stopped arguing. The lunch was silent. Not a lot of talking. This seemed like the silence before the storm. Vaishali paid for the food and we left in the uncomfortable silence. Before hitting the highway again, I wanted to fill in gas. I knew that I had plenty of gas left but didn't want to stop again. I filled about 4 gallons to fill my tank.

The next few hours, Vaishali and I were trying to get the couple talking. Sumeet and Asawari were definitely a married couple with couple problems. We had a stop at one of the service areas for coffee. It was getting dark and we were sure that we couldn't see the Niagara that day. Sumeet had to call his uncle for change of plans and finally it was decided that he will meet us the next day. We were ready to leave when Sumeet asked for his glasses. Asawari had them in her purse as Sumeet was wearing his sunglasses (customized for his eyesight) all this while. It was a white purse that she was carrying with her valuables and Sumeet's glasses. But she couldn't find it in the car. "Are you sure that it was in the car?", we asked. Asawari was never so sure about it. Where can a purse disappear?

Asawari couldn't hold back her tears. The purse had to be found. All she could remember was that she carried the purse to the Subway. Oops!! She forgot the purse at the Subway about 200 miles back. WE didn’t even know the town where we stopped. Vaishali was quick to remember that calling 411 could help trace the Subway and the phone number as well. But, we needed some way of identifying the city/ town/ village. Vaishali had already thrown the receipt from the subway. But, even in this world, miracles and coincidences occur. As I had stopped for gas (though minimal), I had the receipt from the gas station. Bingo!!! We had the zip code. Vaishali called 411 and got the number for the subway. To our luck, the subway did find the purse. They agreed to keep the purse until we pick it up on our way back (the next day). All this while, Sumeet was consoling Asawari and keeping her calm. He was lucky as Asawari had forgotten about their argument and now they were more concerned about their valuables. Sumeet wanted his glasses as badly as Asawari wanted her purse. He could be practically blind without them. Now that we knew that the purse was safe, Asawari was feeling better and she had forgiven Sumeet. It was dark enough to turn on the car’s head lights and Sumeet was still wearing his sunglasses. It was the funniest time and Sumeet was sad.

We reached Niagara at about 8:30 p.m. after an eventful drive. We crashed on the hotel bed and were lazy to get out. I am surprised by the fact that Sumeet was still wearing his glasses. After all, he didn't have any option but to keep them on. Sumeet still had to confirm the plan with his cousin. He called the cousin and decided on a plan for the next day.

After resting for a while, we drove to the falls. It was a beautiful sight. There was a show of fireworks. The light was bringing the fall to life. The water sparkled with rainbow colors as the mist rose above the ground level to magnify the entire place. The fall in the night is a spectacle... Oops!! That reminds me of Sumeet who was “enjoying” all this with his sunglasses. To prove that he was not blind enough, Sumeet drove us back to the hotel. The drive was safe or that’s what I thought until I knew that Sumeet didn’t see the cop who he passed few blocks back.

We were dead tired and were ready to sleep when Sumeet realized that he had to meet his cousin at the falls at 9 a.m. “I am not gonna wake up that early!!” was the unanimous declaration from Asawari, Vaishali and I. It was too late to call his cousin and change the plan. The only idea would be to wake up at 6 and let Sumeet’s uncle know about the revised plan to meet at noon. Everything seemed fine with that plan other than the fact that Sumeet now had to wake up at 6 to call his cousin.

“TRRRRrrrrrrrr!!”, the alarm rung at 6 to wake up Sumeet. Although Vaishali, Asawari and I were awake, nobody made a move. Poor chap woke up and changed the plan. He even took shower and was ready by 6:45. I could hear him moving around the room trying to wake somebody up. Asawari was first to give up and woke up cursing him. We checked out our hotel room by 9:15 and headed straight for the falls.

It was a gloomy day and in a moment it started raining. After finding a good spot to park, we headed for our first ride “Maid of the Mist”. This is a ride where the boat takes us very close to the falls. You are literally drenched by the water from the falls. To avoid getting wet, we get a poncho. In this case, the ponchos were helping us from the rain more than the falls. As we closed to the falls, I could feel the gust of air and the spray of water on my face. I have been here before; however, this was more exciting than my previous encounter with the gigantic falls. The rain was acting as a fuel to the power of the falls. The boat was now so close to the falls that I had a hard time to breathing in the midst of the combination of strong wind and the spray of water that was turning into a water jet crashing in my face. I could hardly see anything around me other than somebody with his sunglasses on J. I wondered if the boat was ever gonna turn or are we gonna perish in the falls. It turned!! It turned… and we were back on the deck.

Sumeet’s cousin has been in Canada for more than a decade. He joined us to the “Cave of the Winds”. The cave gets you right under the falls. As we closed to the final destination, we could feel the water pressure. The wind and water was making it difficult to stand. Vaishali and I gathered courage and stepped to the deck where we were under the falls. The water was now directly falling on us. The pressure compelled us to hold the railings and turn our back to the falls. There was no way we could have faced the falls without hurting ourselves. I checked and figured out that Sumeet, Asawari and Sumeet's cousin were standing way behind the so called “Hurricane Deck”. Finally, Sumeet and Asawari were bold enough to join us. Once they were inside the fall, they forgot all their fears and enjoyed every moment. We were drenched!! I was feeling cold and wanted to change. Vaishali and Asawari went to the food court to change while Sumeet and I were comfortable changing in the parking lot. After drying ourselves, we were sitting at an Indian restaurant for lunch. By 4:30, we were ready to leave. Sumeet’s cousin was gonna walk to the Canadian side and then catch a train back home. It’s great that you can walk from Canada to the US.

Normally, the drive back after a great trip is boring and sad. However, in this case, we were excited as we had to get Asawari’s purse from the Subway. Sumeet was more excited than Asawari since he was going to get back his vision. He was like a kid jumping in the back sit as we were close to the Subway. We reached the Subway by 7 p.m. and claimed the purse. It was great to find everything in place… sorry; it was great to find that everything except Sumeet’s glasses was in place. I cannot describe Sumeet’s face after that. Though we were sorry for Sumeet, it was a funny ending to an exciting treasure hunt. Asawari, Vaishali and I couldn’t hold our laughter.

The rest of the trip was pseudo silent. We (including me) were busy enjoying the beautiful weather. The clouds had a silver lining and the mountains glowed at a distance. It was a treat to the eyes. I was engrossed in the scenic drive when Vaishali yelled “WOW!!!!!!” that could have turned me deaf. I startled and so did the car. I might have skipped a heart beat with that yell. I was more surprised and annoyed when I knew that Vaishali was excited to see the buffaloes at a distance. Out of all the amazing things around, all that Vaishali was excited was a herd of buffaloes that was grazing in the open field. And then there was silence for the rest of the trip.

The trip to Niagara Falls was exciting due to various factors. Even though Awawari’s purse and fall were memorable events, they could be easily blind sighted by the fiasco of Sumeet’s glasses (literally).

To this date, we are unclear of the whereabouts of Sumeet’s glasses. Thus, I request to all you readers that if you ever find a pair of glasses in upstate New York, please conduct the following tests.

1. Wear the glasses and check if they made you dizzy
2. Use it as a convex lens and check if a paper burns in less than 10 seconds
3. Compare it with the picture below and check if the glasses match
   

Glasses

If all the tests pass, please contact me at the email provided on this website. It might be Sumeet’s lucky day!!

Dil se boloon.. jaan se boloon.. main hoon mumbaiya – Lucky Ali

On June 20, 2006, there were articles on the internet calling Mumbai as the rudest city in the world. Here are few quotes from the article as it read on rediff.com

“The survey on common courtesy conducted by popular monthly Readers Digest has found the culture of extending help, expressing gratitude when helped and talking politely are not part of everyday life in Mumbai.”

“The survey used three tests to take stock of the politeness factor -- dropping papers in a busy street to see if anyone would help, checking how often shop assistants said "thank you", and counting how often someone held a door open.”

I don’t know how something like this can even be considered as a legit survey. Does saying “Thank You” all it takes to be polite? Sorry can’t make a dead man alive. However, saying it would be so polite… duh!!!!!

I cannot understand how a reputed magazine like readers digest can perform such a dumb survey and to add to it, most of the online newspapers can publish it. I do not want to compare Mumbai with any other city. However, I have lived in the city for about 25 years and I can confidently say that Mumbai is by no means the rudest city in Maharashtra… forget about being the rudest in India or even the world. It is one of the few cities where people will be ready to help you in trouble. No only is the city ready to help you, but it is also one of the safest cities that I have seen.

Few incidences where I have seen the people from Mumbai go out of the way to help others.

1. Power outage in 1995: At about 4:30, most of the city had lost power due to some transformer issue. This is the beginning of the peak hours for the city and the power outage had hit the railways that services millions each day. Millions had to now find alternatives to reach home to their loved ones. The word “Thank you” was NOT going to help these people. The kindness in the heart and the understanding of others problem helped thousands that day. People with their private cars opened the doors to strangers for a ride back home. Cabs, Rickshaws, Buses and even trucks stepped up to help many. People from road side buildings came down with food, water and basic amenities for the people who were stranded. Some even offered others to stay for the night until the power was back.
2. Deadly rain in 2005: A cloud burst had brought the city to a stand still in a matter of few hours. Again the people were caught unaware of a disaster that ruined the whole infrastructure of the city. Even the government and law were under prepared for such an event. People were sitting in trains, buses, cars for hours and hours without any hopes. And during this time of need, the general junta (public) had to go out of their way to help their fellow Mumbaites. Food, water, shelter, medical support, etc. are just few things that were overflowing along with the great flood in the city. The city with the BIG HEART had once again showed the world that “action speaks louder than words”.
3. Bomb blasts in 2006: People in Mumbai are not scared of death. Even under life threatening circumstances when the city was under attack, the people of Mumbai were not hiding in their houses. The whole city understood the importance of the calamity and was ready to help the affected. Bottles of water, food packets were supplied to the people in need. Thousands that live near the rail tracks came down to help the wounded. None of these were relatives of the wounded or friends of the dead. However, in the time of crisis, they all were siblings of Mumbai.

I can write pages of incidences that have been experienced or heard which can show the human side of Mumbai.

Again, I do not want to compare Mumbai with any other city. I just want the readers as well as survey makers to understand that there is a lot more than being verbally polite. I might agree that Mumbai is not the most polite city; however, please bear in mind the various instances that I have mentioned before calling it the rudest.

My Mumbai has a Big Heart, is kind and is truthful. There is no fake hospitality in the city. What you see is what you get!! In Mumbai, people live in harmony; they trust others and are willing to go out of their way to help others. In Mumbai, you are safe and you will not be cheated. In Mumbai, people will address your concerns and help you to their fullest. In Mumbai, people will have a kind heart that is ready to act for others when required.

Finally, I would ask any survey company that conducts stupid surveys like “dropping a paper” or “opening a door”, to go back to their drawing boards and come up with a better survey. Also, these companies should rethink over their assessment and

“NEVER EVER CALL MUMBAI AS WORLD’S RUDEST CITY”

And, for all those who are unsure about what Mumbai is… I can just say that

“You can’t just visit Mumbai, you have to live it to understand it”

Soccer Fever in the Galley!!

My workplace has great amenities including Game Room, Munchies cart and a well equipped galley. The galley on my floor is a row of tables with bar stools where people can sit and enjoy their lunch watching the large screen television that is mounted on the wall. On regular work days, I have seldom seen anybody in the galley. However, things have changed over the last couple of weeks. Galley has become the most famous place on the floor.

Unfortunately, it’s not that people have realized that galley is a place to sit, eat and share their thoughts, to know their colleagues on topics other than work. They have realized that galley is a great place to watch the World Cup Soccer!!

Great Soccer Fans!!

The galley that was not occupied for more than an hour (lunch time) before is now packed for several hours of the day. People are more aware of the world cup schedule than their meeting calendars. The floor has changed from the cubicle work environment into a flexible work environment. Employees are seen working from the galley on their laptop making sure that they don’t miss on the action. The quiet food galley has turned into busy pit stop for Soccer Fans.

The Infamous Galley!!!

The World Cup has just entered the round of 16 and the excitement on the floor is increasing exponentially. The next 10 days will see more great games and the fan club at the galley will keep growing.

However, after the World Cup Finale (in 2 weeks), people will return back to their cubes and will be seen rarely in the galley again; until the next big event on television.

Se7en Years Later...

Rohit left for his PhD in 1999 while Hrishikesh and I followed him to the US in 2000 and 2001 respectively. However, Sumeet was not tempted and remained in India for about 7 years until Feb 2006. He finally arrived to the US on a company project.

Most of us met during these 7 years. However, it has been 7 years since all 4 of us met. This was the first time all 4 of us were in the same country at the same time after 1999. So we decided to meet and the venue decided was Tampa, Florida.

Seven years is a long period. I had to dig out a picture of the 4 of us from 1996 or 1997 and compared with the current picture taken at the trip. Apparently, we all had gained weight and lost hair.


On top (taken at Sheetal’s house in 1996-1997): (from left) Rohit, Sumeet, Hrishikesh, Me. The bottom picture taken in Tampa, FL: (from left) Sumeet, Me(Harish), Hrishikesh, Rohit.

I landed in Tampa at 12:30 a.m. Rohit had already reached Tampa an hour ago. I had met Sumeet in my trip to India in January while I hadn’t met Rohit for about 5 years. Rohit didn’t change much (well, he got married to Sheetal). Rohit was the last person we ever expected to get married. And now he is not only married but is going to be a father in August this year. Time flies so fast.. so does Sumeet’s hair. This was one more shock for our group. Sumeet was once teased for his curly and thick hair. Today, he is fighting and hanging on to the last few strands that are still faithful to Sumeet’s head.

Sheetal and Asawari were waiting for us with the baggage. Sheetal was in the 6th month of her pregnancy. However, Rohit could still beat her in the Big Belly competition.

From Left: Sheetal, Asawari

Sumeet is a new driver in the US. He and Asawari already had an adventurous drive to the airport and now he was more worried with Rohit and me in the car. We wouldn’t leave a single opportunity to tease Sumeet. The house was very well decorated by Asawari who is an architect by profession. We didn’t have much energy left after the long day. After chatting for about couple of hours, we went to sleep. It was nice meeting Rohit, Sheetal, Sumeet and Asawari. We still had Hrishi to join us the next day.

It was 8:30 when I felt something poking my A**. Oops!! Rohit is standing on top of me with a cricket bat. “You can put the bat to better use, Rohit”, I said. “That’s exactly what I am doing”, he replied. I was wide awake and now it was Sumeet’s turn to wake up. Haaahaa!! It wasn’t long before Sumeet walked out of the bedroom rubbing his rear and cursing at Rohit.

Sheetal and Asawari were kind enough to make awesome Omelet. Well, it has been a while since I had a nice breakfast. Thanx to both of them, it felt like home. By this time, Sheetal had guessed it right. Rohit woke everybody and now was comfortably taking a nap. It was our turn to use the bat.

It was 1 p.m. when we left to have lunch. Hrishi was arriving at 2:40. that gave us just one and half hour to eat lunch and drive to the airport. Rohit and I wanted to eat steak and we found “LongHorn Steakhouse” right opposite Sumeet’s apartment complex. Sumeet never had steak, but liked it. Time is not an issue with Rohit on the table. He could finish his 12oz. in less than 5 min. and then was scavenging on our plates. That’s typical Rohit that we all know. It took us just 15 minutes to eat, pay and leave.

Hrishi arrived on time. He had shaved off his head about a year back. Bald Hrishi had a small backpack and that was all he required for the trip. Well, the only things that matte to him are his boxers. Everything else is secondary. The next stop was car rental office. We gauged the prices and booked a minivan. Hrishi and I hopped in the big van and were to follow Sumeet’s car or that’s what we thought. Apparently, we were way ahead of the rest of the gang. Hrishi and I had a nice chat about facts of life as we saw them. Hrishi was hungry and that is a deadly situation. He can smell food miles away and that’s exactly how it happened. We were to go to Walmart to buy beer when Hrishi’s survival instincts sensed something round the corner and there it was; right at the corner was a BW3.

We had a great time at the BW3. It was cricket time when we reached home. Cricket is a mandatory event when we meet. Well, that’s exactly why we had the cricket bat with us. It was scorching hot but that didn’t dampen our spirits. The couple of hours on the tennis court (to play cricket) were refreshing. We lost couple of balls to the lake that day. One was a freak accident when Hrishi could not stop the ball rolling into the lake. After taking a nice cold water shower, we were ready to eat the Biryani and Tandoori. The food was irresistible. Nice game of cricket, great food and now we were all ready to have a fun evening at Ybor City. We called Anand who is living in Tampa for 5 years and was our guide to the place for the next couple of days.

Ybor City is a shopping, dining and entertainment district where the ancient art of premium hand-rolled cigar making lives on. You can go to www.ybor.org for more information.

I had never seen anything like Ybor city. I had no idea that you could have that many clubs on a single street. And to add to the surprise, I had never seen publicists for clubs that were promoting great offers like buy 1 drink and get 2 for free. Competitive market for club owners!! There were all kinds of clubs from Spanish club to reggae and hip hop clubs as well. We all settled at a place that was playing live music. After a few drinks and good music, we decided to head back home.

Food was waiting for us at home. Indian cuisine is great and all of us agreed with that fact. In fact, Hrishi, Anand and I were also favoring a lot of other cuisines like Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Italian, etc. The cuisine speaks a lot about the place and the people as well. This fact was making the conversation about cuisines more interesting. We were agreeing that Thai or Spanish cuisines provide great service while Indian cuisines always has buffets where Desis crowd for few dishes. Asawari wondered about our interest in the cuisines. However, she was naïve to understand the analogies. Well, she wasn’t just loaded with our cuisine fantasies; she had to digest the marriage concepts that we preached her till 5 in the morning. I am unsure about her understanding of the whole conversation. However, I am convinced that she would never try to use the term “test drive” in front of us.

Next morning was no better than the previous. Rohit was wrong using the cricket bat. Well, he made sure that we were wide awake and ready to go to the beach. We left for the beach by noon. The drive was fine until the Indian Idol in the car made it colorful. The awesome Indian Idol was accompanied by 12 pack of Bud Lit to lighten him up. The beach was crowded by the time we reached. It wasn’t just people that were crowding the beach; there were plenty of sea weeds that were polluting the water as well. Drinks were not allowed on the beach and we had to smuggle the beer on the beach. After about couple of hours we were dying to eat something good and what could be better than Frog legs and Gator nuggets. The next stop for the day was to the north beach. It was known for the beautiful sun sets and it was worth it. The last destination was a total let down. The sunshine bridge was hyped too mcuh and was no better than the bridge I see at any sea side.

On the way back, we stopped at Krispy Kreme for some fresh donuts. It was late and the donuts were free. With few dozen donuts and food from taco bell, we head for home. Sumeet was all charged up with the heavy sugar dose and could not help himself shouting from the back seat, “RIGHT!! RIGHT!!” Sumeet was paranoid all this while and could not stop back seat driving.

Next day was a long drive to Kennedy Space Center. It was an awesome experience. As a kid, I always was fascinated with NASA and today I was visiting it. I liked the launching pads and the rest of the equipment that was used for a launch. The shows and the museum were average and not as exciting as the amazing facts. We spend the whole day at the KSC and drove back to Orlando for dinner. It was steak time again at Lonestar. Unfortunately, the server was late to take our orders and fortunately, we got free appetizers and drinks (not a bad deal). We were full and were nearly dozing when we left. IT was a long and quiet drive from Orlando to Tampa.

We were home by 1 in the morning. Hrishi and I had to catch a flight at 6 and had to leave the house by 4. I hate sleeping for short period of time. I would rather prefer not sleeping at all and that’s exactly what I did. Asawari and Sheetal gave me company till 4. Both of them couldn’t stop pursuing me to stay. I couldn’t have delayed my flight as I had to attend few important meetings in the morning. However, lady luck or jinx hit me early next morning. Hrishi and I were caught in early morning traffic and I missed my flight. I could not believe my luck . After the flight fiasco, the long security check kept me waiting for an hour more at the airport. Finally, I got on another flight and was set for my trip back to Richmond. The time that I spent in those 3 days was memorable and I brought home a ton of moments to cherish for a long long time.


"Thank God for letting me choose my friends."

Curiosity Delay

It is frustrating when cars in front slow down due to a traffic jam. On a downhill, you could even see the first brakes light about half a mile in front. This is followed by a synchronized braking and you can see the chain reaction reaching you in no time. You go from a speed of 60-65 MPH to about 10-15 MPH. The slow traffic continues and you could see the vehicles coming to a stand still.

The first thing that you think is an accident in front of you. You feel sorry for the people in the collision and wait for the cop lights or emergency vehicles to pass by you. However, most of the times you will hear neither and you will still be wondering about the traffic jam. There is nothing that you can do about it. You are helpless on the highways as you have to travel a significant distance before the next exit. The cars are crawling and covering a yard can take you minutes. Those yards could be called the Longest Yards of your travel. It is about 20-30 minutes and you have not even traveled 100 yards.

After about 40-45 minutes, you see the ray of light or I would say that you see few cars releasing their brakes and moving faster. You still take about 5 minutes before you can speed up.

Hey, but what caused us to slow down? You don’t see any accident! What did I waste my hour in the traffic for? The answer to these questions is the simple emotion in a human mind, curiosity. However, this curiosity hasn’t really helped anyone.

“A person who is too nice an observer of the business of the crowd, like one who is too curious in observing the labor of bees, will often be stung for his curiosity”
- Alexander Pope

I like this quote and it is so valid when we talk about “Curiosity Delay”, which is another term for rubbernecking. A clear explanation of rubbernecking is provided by Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor-vehicle_collision)

Rubbernecking is where drivers slow down to look at recent collisions or anything out of the ordinary on the highway. Events ranging from gruesome car accidents to a police car stopped on the shoulder can cause traffic jams on both sides of the road, even if the roadway has been cleared.

Although caution is advised when there is unexpected activity on the side of a road, a car with a flat tire on the side of a highway often causes as much slow down as a real accident would due to rubbernecking. The slowdown in traffic persists even after the accident scene has been cleared if traffic is dense. Traffic experts call this phenomenon a phantom accident. This behavior can potentially cause additional and sometimes more serious accidents among the distracted rubberneckers.

The phenomenon of “Curiosity Delay” was introduced to me by a local radio station that cautioned me about a delay on my commute to work. It is something that I have experienced on several occasions.

Today, when I decide to travel a long distance, I have to consider extra time for the delays due to the curious human mind. It is something that I cannot avoid because I know that Curiosity will not only kill the cat, it will also murder my time.

Tapri vs. Sports Bar

A question for all Desis in the US,

When was the last time you met someone anywhere other than a bar, restaurant or shopping mall?

A friend of mine and I decide to meet and I know that we will meet at some bar almost every time. It is always going to be a bar or a restaurant or a shopping mall.

As I drive to the bar, I think of the options that I had back in Mumbai. I had rarely been to a bar to spend an evening with my friends. The most common hang out place was a ‘katta’ (a small concrete wall) or a ‘tapri’ (Road side Tea Shop). I am sure that a lot of Desis can relate to these places.

I cannot stop comparing the bar I am driving to and the tapri I used to go to.

The objective of both the places is the same. Spend some quality time with few friends, discuss the daily events and argue over topics that will never influence your life. While I agree that the sports bar will give the opportunity to do all these things, I also know that the Desi tapri used to provide me a lot more (entertainment) for a lot less (dollars).

I still remember the tapri outside my college in Matunga. It was built on footpath right outside my department building. There was a bench or ‘baakdaa’ which was always occupied by someone I never knew. For other customers, the sitting arrangement was provided by Mumbai municipality or what we call a ‘katta’ (a small concrete wall). There were no fancy bar stools or booths to enjoy the evening.

I have never spent a long time to decide my order at a tapri. I will get chai or coffee. The extra information would be either full or cutting. It was much simpler than the choice of beer, draft or bottle and finally regular or tall. I can eat ‘khari’ or ‘biscuit’ rather than going through a list of appetizers served at the sports bar. The tapri stuck to its objective of spending an evening and did not provide the option of having a dinner.

I can say that the tapri management (1 or 2 people who might have not learned more than fifth grade) was smart enough to target the right customer and provide everything that the customer asked for. Here is a list of things that a tapri provided that a sports bar has not provided me till date.

Ambiance – The tapri provided great ambiance for the occasion

The cars passing by would provide constant change in the mood. A nice roaring engine of a motor-cycle or a turbo fit car that passed by with full throttle, some guy who had to blast the music in his car so load that the vibrations could be felt in my cup of chai. A bar would never have this acoustics in the air. The bar will play music that would always seem similar irrespective of the song played. I prefer hindi songs played on the radio by the tapriwala. A catchy number from some Govinda movie or an oldie sung by Amitabh would blend perfectly with the other sound effects.

The bar space seems claustrophobic and the music and smoke adds up to it. The tapri believes in the open space policy. You have the freedom to sit anywhere you feel like and enjoy the cup of chai. The tapriwala would care least as long as you return the empty cup. There are no smoking or non-smoking zones for a tapri.

Accounting – The tapri has a unique trust in the customer

In this era, tapri is one of the very few places where you can buy now and pay later. The one word for this is ‘khata’ (account). One can buy a cup of chai and put in under his account. There are no papers to be signed or any collateral in this deal. It works purely on trust. In spite of all this, I have never seen the tapriwala ever complain about money.

I can never expect this at any bar in the US. Here, I would be expected to pay a decent tip in addition to the drink I bought. A tapriwala does not expect or might not even accept the tip if offered one.

Expense – The tapri does not require a happy hour to attract people.

We have all heard the term “Happy Hour”. The website www.answers.com provides us with the definition of this as ‘A period of time, usually in late afternoon and early evening, during which a bar or lounge features drinks at reduced prices.’ It lasts for more than an hour and is successful to attract the customers.
The tapri will not have any strategies to attract customers. The cup of chai speaks for itself. Even though you spend a lot less at any tapri than any bar, the low cost does not restrict the type of customers seen at a tapri. You will find a poor worker sipping the hot chai after the days’ hard labor as well as an office executive waiting for his chai.
I have no idea about the origination of the tapris in India. But I am sure that tapris have been serving millions of people in India for years. In this jet age, the tapri becomes a pit stop where people can relax, chat, and laugh over small things in life. The hot cup of chai always brings a much needed energy to carry on during the day.
While thinking all this, I am already parked in the front of the bar and am walking inside. I will have couple of drinks and will go home to catch up on my sleep.

The Long weekend!!

No, this is not a review of the movie released in 2005. I want to write about the actual long weekend in US.

I would admit that I wasn’t aware of the concept called “long weekend” till I landed in the US. It actually surprised me to see the number of long weekends we get during the course of the year. Here is the list of the federal holidays for the year 2006.

8 out of 10 federal holidays will fall on either a Friday or a Monday. The remaining 2 will be converted into longer weekends by a vacation on Friday or Monday.

So what do people do during these long weekends? Here are few options that I have seen.

Shop - Most of the long weekends are seen as the opportunity to shop. I could write a whole lot about the shopping bonanza during the long weekends The Marketing Department can discount any product, labeling it as the long weekend special. I am writing this article on a President’s Day Weekend and I have already seen enough commercials regarding the Weekend sale. I can understand a Thanksgiving Sale or a Christmas Sale for the very occasion of the festival. However, I can never understand the big rush at the shopping malls during the President’s Day or even Labor Day.

Travel – Traveling is fun and I have seen a lot of people travel during these long weekends. It’s the best opportunity for one to get away from the daily routine. The trouble is that people flock at typical holiday spots around the country based on the season. It is the warm south for the President’s Day Weekend. I like the idea of traveling to a place where it is nice and sunny. However, the price to pay for the travel over the long weekend is amazingly high. The air tickets can climb up to twice or even thrice the regular ticket prices. The hotel bookings are full and even if you are lucky to find a place to stay, they are exorbitant. I wouldn’t be surprised if people who plan their vacations 6-8 months in advance end up saving a fortune.

Relax at home – “Keep the main thing the main thing”. I have read this in one of the leadership management books. It is very true and lot of people will agree that relaxing is the prime objective during the weekend. Relax during a weekend and relax longer during the long weekend. Focus on the objective and act accordingly. Relaxing means different things for different people. It can be from spending all day sleeping to doing house hold work that was pending for a long time.

Long weekend certainly brings a much needed break from your routine. It not only gives us an extra holiday but also makes the next weekend seem closer. It is February and half way through the long weekend. I would certainly try to enjoy it as it is going to be a long wait until the next one arrives (Memorial Day, May 29th).