Gruesome week

Last week was really busy. I had so much to do in so little time..a lot of time became less time due to procrastination. I have tried real hard, but this is always the case.. It all starts with thinking that I can complete one task a little later since I have 2 more days before the due date.. then the postponement has an avalanche effect! But somehow I managed to get all the work done.

Weekend was fun.. I went to the "VISA Talent show" which is a multicultural talent competition. There were clubs like the Japanese club, Brazilian club etc, participating. Last year the Indian club, 'Indian Inc' won the talent competition. This year they won it again! I personally thought the performance by the Brazilian people was very good, but they lacked variety! The Indians performed Garbha and Rass followed by Bharatnatyam.

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Just two more weeks to go before I get done with the Spring Semester, the last semester in my grad school life! I am kind of excited about it but also sad that I am going to be leaving Gnv, which has been my home for the last 1.5 years..

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Today I went to Wal-mart to get some empty CDs. But as usual you never buy one thing when you are in Wal-mart. I went there to do a purchase for $10 and ended up spending $30 and guess what, I did not buy the CDs. Instead I got a (Florida) Gator T-shirt for $22 and a cap for $8. Now that the Gators have won the Basketball and the Football National championships, the price of all the Gator stuff has increased like crazy. I am sure that I could have got the same T-shirt for $15-$16 some 1 month back.. I guess this is the price you pay for being a part of the Gator Nation!

Indian Cricket players - a new leaf

Imagine what would the Indian Cricket players do if they loose all the advertisement contracts they have.. Switch to some other profession!

Here are some of the players doing what they are passionate about rather doing what they are good for!

Virendar Sehwag

Robin Uthappa




Sourav Ganguly



Dhoni



Ajith Agarkar



Zaheer Khan

Building our house

For Indians building their own house is one of their biggest life time goals. They take this job very seriously and once done all the relatives say "Ohh, they have built their own house now. No more worries for them." I understand the feeling of accomplishment when we build our first house. But people buy/build 4 houses and for the 5th house the feel the same way. How many houses do u need to live in? I guess the idea is one house for the kitchen, one house for the living room, one house for the bedroom etc. One thing I have noticed is that people believe that real estate is a great investment which I completely agree with the roaring price of land in Chennai!

I remember when we built our house in Chennai, my parents took the role of an architect, supervisor, contractor, manager, name it and they did it. I don't think many people in the city would have done as much as my parents did while building the house. Usually what they do is go to an architect and ask him to make the plan and they just approve it. But my parents went and sat down with the architect and designed each wall. The energy and involvement they had was awesome. I was in undergrad then and was too busy with friends and din't bother much about the house. Now I feel guilty for not helping them around. I remember once we went to 'Thousand Lights' to purchase a chandelier for the living room and to buy some special lights for the bedrooms. My parents took me to some 6 or 7 shops before they decided what to buy. Then came the task of buying fans. In the US, you can buy ceiling fans and lights online. When I was a kid we got a fan with a light in the center and my friends thought that I had a very cool fan. Nowadays you have various kinds of fans, fanimation (animated ceiling fans), hunter fans, designer fans (monte carlo fans) etc. Things have changed so much that the pleasure of building a house is kind of lost. Everything is delegated to agencies/contractors. The owners come and see the progress of the house once in 2-3 weeks. Nobody has the time to get themselves involved anymore.

My parents are living in the house they built and are constantly making improvement and changes to the house. The day we had the 'Grahapravesam' (house warming ceremony), my parents were so thrilled and at the same time felt relieved because they built the house in less than a year. They faced lots of problems while building the house with the masons, painters and carpenters but somehow they managed to swim across and reach the shore. I wish I will have the same the energy and enthusiasm when I build my house!

India vs. the US

There are a lot of things which are different between India and the US. When Indians come to the US, they change themselves a little in certain ways to suit the land of the free!

Some of the most common things are when people in the US have coffee they have dikashun/black coffee but in India by default coffee comes with lots of milk and sugar! First floor means ground floor and ground floor means basement. The way they pronounce words that have the letter "j" for example, jalapeño is pronounced as halapeno and not Jalapeno.. Fuel for vehicles is called 'gas' and not 'petrol'. People are honest in this country even our own folks learn to be honest..

Indians never change when it comes to a few things like bargaining.. I saw an Indian aunty who was trying to bargain at JcPenny because the shirt that she took had a button which was not stitched properly!

Picture source: desithreads.com

Indians always go in for the cheap stuff, be it vegetables, groceries, clothes or insurance. Speaking of insurance when we come to the US as students all of us are told to purchase the cheapest medical insurance possible. The policy hardly covers anything but still all of us do it. Even for car insurance, Indians go in for the cheapest. They buy insurance from some unheard of company thinking that they are saving a lot of $$$.

One thing that all Indians in the US do is complain about the Indian food at the Indian Restaurants. There is always something bad to talk about.. Most of the people who give such raging reviews about restaurants are men, I bet they know for a fact that the food at the restaurant was 100 times better than their wives' cooking! Also most of the Indians here always discuss about the economy of India and how corrupt the politicians are. The men here always tell their mothers that they are planning to come back to India the next year and that next year never comes! The guy's mother topic is a separate issue and will definitely write about it soon!

Buckeyes, whatz the deal?

Picture source: espn.com

Yesterday's game was awesome. Gators proved it once again.. Remember the Monday, Jan 8th when the Gators played against the Buckeyes for the National Football championship? The outcome was unexpected! Gators won.. This Monday the Gators faced the Buckeyes and the outcome was as expected, the gators won again! This is the second time the gators are winning the NCAA Basketball championship!

I watched the game at home and few of my friends went to the Basketball stadium to watch the game and they told me that the entire University Avenue was crowded.. When the game got over, I could hear people bursting crackers near my place. On the whole, it was an awesome game and hats off to Corey Brewer and Taurean Green!

Go Gators!

Tomorrow is going to be a very interesting game.. Florida vs. Ohio State Men's Basketball Championship. The Buckeyes are meeting the Gators for the second time this year, the first time was for the National Football Championship on Jan 8th at which the gators had a meritorious win!

Picture source: gatorshop.com

I am sure the gators who were the 2006 champions will re-prove their worth in tomorrow's game. Poor thing the Buckeyes are going to face loss against the same team for the second time! May be the Michigan Wolverines need to take some tips from the gators on facing/beating the Buckeyes ;)


Here is the video of the Gator's White-House Visit. Enjoy

Some of the best ads

Jamaica, it is!

I have started counting the days before graduation! I am all excited about this new chapter of my life. I hope it is at least as adventurous and interesting as the past 3 years of my life. The age between 21 and 35 is the fun-filled and most challenging period of person's life and we should try to make the most use of it and accomplish our dreams.. Speaking of dreams, I have already started dreaming about the places I am going to visit in the month of May. I want it to be a true vacation.

Picture source: nationalgeographic.com

I am actually planning to go on a week's trip to Jamaica. We are going to be a group of 3 and we have decided to spend money like water..whatever little we have! I actually have a friend from Jamaica and have asked him about the place, things to do etc.. I found the website vacations.net to be very helpful in finalizing where I want to go for the summer. I really liked they way the had categorized resorts. They have listings for Family Vacation Resort, resorts for couples, resorts for honeymooners etc. You can save money as they are offering upto 50% discount on regular price. This is amazing especially if you want a low budget nice vacation.. We have already shortlisted our resorts.. It is only a matter of time before we swipe our credit cards! Can't wait for this fun-filled, relaxing get away..

The art of bidding

Picture source: cartoonstock.com

On eBay, when you bid on certain products, even though you are the highest bidder you keep getting a message saying you need to bid higher as someone has already made your offer. And when you go and see who the bidders are, it is you who has been bidding your own price. Has this ever happened to you? Basically this is a way to keep increasing the price and make one bid for a higher price. Next time you are on eBay and you keep getting that message, you know what to do.. "Quit Bidding on that product"

Speaking of bidding, I came across a website "bid4prizes.com" where you win free gifts by bidding, not to increase the price but to decrease it. So the lowest unique bidder wins. Isn't that very innovative? This is a game where there are lots of sweepstakes. You can bid using your cell phone or online to win cash prizes. You need to register for playing this game. Once you do that, you need to select a prize and place a bid on it. Then you will be informed if the bid you placed was high, low, unique or duplicate. So once you win the prize, you do not pay any money to get the product other than the shipping and handling costs and applicable IRS taxes. So in case you want a different experience in bidding, try playing this game.

A world so beautiful

I am guessing most of you know about Matt Harding and his famous website "wherethehellismatt.com". I just thought I should post the video on my blog. All the places that you see in this video are real and the way Matt dances is the best he can do!

I like the music of the video too. When you see the video you feel like there is so much to see in this world, hopefully people will realize the need to preserve whats left.

Traveling is something which I love. Some countries I want to visit by 2020: Egypt, Italy, Japan, Iceland, Dubai, China, Spain, New Zealand, Bolivia and Brazil.

Websites playing cupid

Picture source: speedysigns.com

When I was in undergrad, orkut was the in-thing to find friends or boyfriends/girlfriends. I remember how all of us used to be on orkut everyday. Now it has become a site where you can catch up with long last friends and scrap each other.

These days adds for online dating has become very popular. There are quite a few sites which offer this service. To join this growing cupid list is "JustSayHi.com". Unlike their brothers, this site offers free dating service. All you need to do is register for their service and then hopefully you will find someone interesting! There is no "if you are not satisfied, you get 6 months free" thingie. I personally don't think I can choose my life-partner over a dating site. But hey it is the web2.0 generation, soon websites might be built to choose your kid!

Somehow a lot of people seem to believe in finding a spouse online. Even if you look at Indians, shadi.com and tamilmatrimony seem to be very popular to advertise for prospective brides and grooms. At least till now my parents haven't brought up the topic of placing ads on websites or The Hindu Classifieds. I think they know that I am going to tell them "Not now!".

Time to make a Change

I prefer to change my cell phone carrier every year, the reason being that you can get better phones as well as better deals. I used have a T-Mobile account but then I changed to Verizon. The problem with Verizon is that you get less minutes for a higher price than T-Mobile.

So, I am planning to change my phone since my contract with Verizon is ending soon. I am ok with T-Mobile or Verizon. Anything other than Cingular works fine for me. I was browsing for free phones that are available with the purchase of a plan and I checked out the free phones available at Alltell and Wirefly. Both have some good phones. But the free cell phones at Wirefly are simply amazing. You can get a BlackBerry Pearl with a new T-mobile account for FREE, thats right for free!

They also have some cool deals going on now. Sony W300i is also available for free "without any mail-in rebates". But this is on Cingular account, not going to work for me. With a new Verizon account you can get a Razr for free. When I got my Razr, I paid $70 for the phone for a one-year contract. I should have just got a free phone. So I have decided that I will not make the mistake of paying for a phone when you can get it for free for the second time!

I really like the offers at Wirefly which don't have any mail-in rebates. All these rebates take like 100 days or so and you mostly don't get the full amount back. The best thing to do would be to go in for free phones without any mail-in rebates on them. I think I am going to go in for the Nokia 6030 which comes with T-Mobile. On this I can get a $50 cash back after mail in rebate. Even if I don't get this amount, it is ok. I am happy that for once I was able to find some good deals on phones.

Gold <-> Indians

Picture source: gc.maricopa.edu

Most of the Indians tend to invest in real estate, gold and stocks or mutual funds. If a family has a girl then they start buying gold ornaments for her right from the age of 7 months. For some reason weddings in India seem to be a display of jewels and silk sari. I feel that weddings are more like festivals in India. It is a time for celebration, feasts, happiness and bliss.

I have noticed one thing that people do, they buy gold and silver coins or biscuits. I feel that this is a better thing to do than buying jewels when the girl is 10 years old. This way when the girl grows up she can choose the type of ornament and the design she wants. Designs keep changing each day and what you bought last year has become "Old-fashion"! I found this website where you can buy gold coins in the US. Now we don't have to leave our practices behind in India. The only thing is that you might not get "Mahalakshmi" or "Shiva" or "Ganesha" in the coin. Instead you can get the "American Eagles" or the "American buffalos" ;)

Remember Tata's Rs.1 lakh car?

Tata came up with the idea of making cars to suit the lower-income class. The car was designed to be affordable as well as to serve the purpose. This proposal was made sometime in the year 2003.

Click on the image to see the animation

One of my Dad's usual forwards had the animation of how this car would look. It also takes you for a test drive.. Have a nice laugh!

Any idea as to what has happened to Tata's plan to make this car after all the commotion and "fasting" sessions of Mamata Banerjee?

Credit score, the Magical Number

I realized that if you want to get a credit card or a loan in this country, you OUGHT to have a good credit history. Everything revolves around your credit score and your credit history. I have been looking at forums and websites to learn about ways to improve my credit score and was not able to find a one stop to learn about things related to credits and loans.

Recently I came across this site creditloan.com where you can actually learn about loans, credit cards, credit history and anything related to finance. It is pretty useful if you are a novice in the field of finance and would like some guidance and tutoring. I especially like their Simple loan calculator. You can calculate the monthly payments or the loan amounts. if you have been in this country for less than 2 years the Credit Report Score section talks about ways to enhance your credit score.

Before you get a loan it is very important to get quotes from two or more finance companies or lenders. You should also remember that everytime someone runs a credit check or you apply for a credit card, your credit score is affected. So don't just randomly apply for credit cards because too many credit checks will affect your score. These are somethings which I didn't know until now. I should say better late than never! If you don't have a great credit score, start working to build one now. All it takes is some effort and caution.

Something Useful

If you are looking for hot deals, coupons or codes to get discounts Coupon Chief is a great place to find coupons based on what you are shopping for. I buy electronic stuff and books from Amazon.com. It is a great place to shop at. Getting discount coupons to shop at amazon makes shopping on the Internet even more useful. You not only have to leave your home but you even save for being lazy! The best part of this website is that you choose the shop and you get the listing of all the coupons available like coupons for dell, travelocity, ebay, target etc..

Hmm.. Interesting!

Picture source: d-winner.com

Do you know who are the top four contenders for the "Worst Company in America 2007"? - RIAA, Exon, Walmart and Halliburton।

And the Winner is RIAA getting 53.8% of the votes, followed by Halliburton.

15 companies were chosen for this 'prestigious award' . Best Buy, U-Haul, Sony, Exon, Verizon, Bank of America and United Airlines were among the fortunate contenders! I am sure that disappointed losers would have had an "urgent" board meeting and decided to try harder next year to bag this award ;)

Hearty congratulations to the winners and keep up the good work!

source: consumerist.com

Indian Cricket team - Time to face the Bitter truth!

source: http://content-www.cricinfo.com

I watched the India vs. Bangladesh cricket match today and was very disappointed by India's performance. Looks like the much trash talked person, Ganguly came to rescue India's miserable batting. He was the only one who scored more than 50 runs.

Tendulkar must retire as soon as possible. It is better to leave the team with dignity rather than retire with disgrace. All of us have a lot of respect for our Little Master but it is time he hangs his gloves and goes home.

Bangladesh, supposed to be formed of players from 'the streets' proved their team spirit and confidence today. They were definitely underestimated by the Indians.

India vs. Srilanka is going to decide India's fate at the 2007 World Cup! Initially we were talking about India's strategy at the semi-finals and the finals, now it has come down to Qualification for the super 8 stage!

Checklist to buy a Used car

I have been on the look out for a used car for over 3 months. I have done a lot of research and thought that I can share my knowledge with my blog readers on this subject!

1. It is better to buy a Pre-Owned "Certified" car than buying a Used car. The reason is, with a certified car you get about 7 years warranty. This way you will not be risking your savings.

2. Decide the make which you want to buy. Most of the Indians buy a Toyota, Honda or BMW. Once you decide on the make, decide on the model, the year range and the maximum mileage of the car.

3. Always, I repeat ALWAYS check out the cars on the dealership website and contact the "Internet Sales Manager". This way you will get the Internet pricing (mostly you save about $500 - $1300)

4. Go to edmunds and 'appraise your used car'. Here you can select the make, model, year of manufacture, zip code, color and mileage run. Edmunds gives you the Private Part price(if you buy from an individual), Dealer price, Trade-In price and Certified price.

5. During this appraisal you can add additional equipment like CD, ABS, air bags etc. which come with the car. You should be able to find all the specifications on the dealer's advertisement.

6. Note down the edmunds value and go to the dealership. Tell them you saw this car "ONLINE" and that you would like to test drive the car.

7. Drive the car on the freeway or at 60 mph and see if there is any noise from the engine by switching off the AC/Heater. Then make a thorough inspection of the car (outside, inside, seats, storage, trunk, lights, wipers, engine, oil, brake fluid etc.)

8. Ask for a carfax report of the car. This is very important. You will be able to see how many owners the car has had, was it bought in an auction or was it a trade-in, any major part change or any accident etc.

9. Then ask the car Out-of-the-Door for the price quoted in edmunds. Remember that edmunds does not include the dealer fee, tax, tag etc. Try to get it for about a maximum of $1500 more than the price quoted in edmunds depending on the condition of the car. If you are able to do that, you have got yourself a good deal.

10. You can ask them to run a credit check after you finalize the "Numbers". This way you will not have too many credit checks which will hurt your credit score. Remember to ask the dealer to do a detailing of the car before you take it. This is your last chance to get something from them.

Buying a car whether used/new is a tiring task because you never get satisfied. Sometimes paying $100 more than what you wanted to pay will be worth it.

Those British comedies

Do you remember the British comedies which used to come on Doordarshan? I used to watch "Are you being served?" and "Mind your language". My sister and I used to love them. We used to make sure that we watch them every week. If I remember right, 'Are you being Served' used to come on Mondays and 'Mind your language' on Tuesdays.

Those were good old times. No worries, no tensions and very happy times. Wish I could go back 10 years and relive my childhood!

I started watching both the comedy shows on YouTube. It felt amazing. Only thing which was missing was the company of my sister! May be when I visit her next time I will watch them with her.

Pyar ke side effects - very true!

source: http://www.indiafm.com

I saw the movie Pyar ke side effects starring Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat. I liked it a lot. I thought the movie was very realistic and had captured the true attitude of women. Until they get into a relationship, women tend to be carefree and easy-g0-lucky. But once they are in a relationship their whole character changes. They become very demanding and keep expecting their boyfriends to do and say the RIGHT things (which only women know). Being a woman myself, I feel that we change a lot everytime we take up different roles. Our expectations seem to increase each day when in a relationship.

Coming back to the movie, I thought Mallika Sherawat had done a good job. Rahul Bose was amazing as always! Time pass yet paisa vasool!

It is already Spring Break!!

My Spring Break unofficially starts in another 2 hours! Time flies..Last spring break, my mother was with me and we had lots of fun together. This time it is going to be with my friends.

This is going to be my last spring break for at least a few years.. Graduating semester seems to be the most fun-filled at the same time the most learning period in Grad school life.

For some reason, it is only now that I am discovering things which I have missed out.. So I am trying to live life to the fullest and make the most of this exiting part of my life.

When will there be "equal opportunity" in India?

I came across this news on rediff about reservation in the IIMs for Other Backward Castes. Why is India called a Secular nation when the government itself is drawing fences among the Indians?

IIMs are prestigious institutions because only the smartest and brightest can get in. Now it is going to become just like the other universities in India. They are also going to increase the number of seats. It looks like the Indian government has made up its mind to bid farewell to Quality of education.

I am not saying that there should not be any privileges to the under privileged.. but let the privileges be based on economical status and not on caste. Even today a cobbler's son remains a cobbler. Just because there is reservation system, has the government been able to eradicate poverty? has the government been able to educate the villagers? has the government been able to demolish the slums?

It is only the lower-middle class Forward caste people who get affected because of this reservation. If someone is smart enough to score marks, then irrespective of whether there is reservation or not, he/she should be able to do well. Actually I have known people who converted to BC/MBC from FC, just to get admission into good colleges. This is just unfair advantage given to people who are misusing it.

Irrespective of how many educated politicians come to power, "Vote Bank" is all they care about. They have never been bothered about Quality of education or professional service. This is India's fate in the hands of dirty politicians!

Weirdest week of my life!

This week has been the roughest and the most sensible week of my life.. How weird is that?

I saw myself being impulsive and mature at the same time. I made a lot of decisions this week than I have done in the last 1 year.

It is amazing how I handled things with patience and at the same stood my ground.

Sometimes making the toughest/saddest decision is more practical than living in a world of false hopes and beliefs. Reality is bitter but much better than Imagination!

Lessons of this week:

- Always believe in yourself and never loose your self-confidence.
- True friends will be there for you no matter what happens. If a friend is not there for you when you actually need her/him, then you called the wrong person your friend. Also, make sure you are there for your friends all the time, more importantly during the rough times.

Movie review

I watched the movie "Deja Vu" on Friday with a couple of my friends. It was fine till the point where they start talking about time and space travel. It reminded me of the movie "The Lakehouse" starring Sandra Bullock and Keanau Reeves.

Anyways I really couldn't believe that part when Denzel Washington comes back even though they showed like he dies. It felt like although he traveled back in time and dies, he is still living in the present. I just wish the last 20 mins could have been made a little more sensible. Also sometime in the middle of the movie, I completely lost interest because there were a lot of unnecessary scenes.

On the whole, it was OK.

Now I have to write about the movie "The Departed". It was mind blowing and the entire cast has put in their heart and soul into the movie. Jack Nicholson has proved yet again as to why he is simply the best! I personally thought that after a real long time Leonardo has done a fantastic job. I have been wanting to watch the movie "Bloodline".. Shall write about it once I watch it.

If you haven't seen The Departed, you are missing a very good movie.. Watch it when you get the chance..

Chennai shocked me (Part 2)

Here are some of the good things about Chennai:

There are so many shopping malls, restaurants, movie halls, clubs etc. I went to this new place "Citi Center". It was very nice. It looked like a smaller version of the malls here. There is a lot of parking space and well organized.

I went for walking in the Anna Nagar tower for about 5 days at 5.30 AM. I noticed the changes, there were lights, the walkway was clean and no homeless people sleeping in the park. I remember how this place used to be some 5 years back...Great improvement to how it was before and how it is now.

I also had a chance to go on the ECR road as well as on the Old Mahabalipuram road (OMR). ECR is still the same, a few more restaurants, but OMR has a lot of IT companies and apartments. There is a lot of construction activity going on, more buildings and they have also widened the road a little.

A lot of people like the new Chennai but i still prefer the old one.. It was safer, more clean and less people!

Chennai shocked me

I was in India a month back and was amazed at the way the Chennai and Chennaites have changed.

A lot of vehicles on the road and totally unmanaged and indisciplined traffic. People don't stop at Red lights, they don't use the indicators to turn, they don't care about the pedestrians... What has happened to us?

I went shopping and got a couple of pants. I thought the bill was going to be around Rs.2000. But when I got the bill, I had a heart attack.. Rs.3000 for 2 pants = $70 for 2 pants??
I felt that the prices of salwars and silk skirts were a daylight robbery.. Agreed due to the "IT boon" people are earning a lot of money, but I don't think that they MINT money in TCS or Wipro.. or do they?

I kept wondering as to how the middle class people are surviving with this kind of high prices? Even food has become so expensive.

Now lets focus on the teenage girls and guys, they seemed to be so westernized that I actually had a "cultural shock" visiting India. South India is supposedly more conservative than the north.. God save the kids' parents.. I went to Coffee day in Numgambakkam and was taken aback by the way the girls were dressed up and the things they were talking about. My friend told me that all this has become very common in Chennai..

Are we changing too fast? It just feels like 'peer pressure' is the IN thing!

A video about Call Centers in India

This is a very funny video. Shows the true development in India's economy.. No denial that there are a lot of people investing in IT but call centers seem to be the most popular of all..

Swing Dance!

I was introduced by my roommate to Swing dance last night.. About 6 of us went for this dance session. We had loads and loads of fun..

Although none of us knew anything about Swing dancing, the people over there were kind enough to help us learn the steps. All of us started dancing. I kinda liked it a lot.

I have decided to go for it next week also.. Something new is always interesting ;)

India today!

I am sure most of us have read or listened to the Grasshopper and Ant story. I got an email about the Modern Story.. This story talks about the current state of India, mentality of people and how the government runs. Everybody is so self-centered that they refuse to see or believe in morals.

Nobody can change India and Indians overnight. This has to be done by the people. Self-realization is the key and it is going to take another 20 - 30 years for things to change. No denial that India is doing great when compared to how it was some 30 years back. But India can do a lot better if people are not so corrupt and are concerned about others and are honest to themselves and to others.

Anyways, here is the story!

OLD VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.


MODERN VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance). Opposition MP's stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter and reservation for Grasshoppers in the private sector industries.

Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services.

The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden' Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later...The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India .

*No offense to anybody who was mentioned in the story.*

Boston and I are having fun

My visit to Boston has been awesome so far.. I am meeting my sis and b-in-law after a long time and getting home cooked Desi khana...

We went to Harvard square and then to a restaurant called Finale which is a Dessert Restaurant. It was soo yummy. We ordered the Pineapple upside down cake and the molten chocolate cake and they were so tasty and as I am writing mouth is watering.
If you go to Boston, make it a point to go to this place. It is usually crowded like crazy during weekends, so may be it is a good idea to make reservations!

We went for a Potluck today and it was a lot of fun. We were about 7 of us and we had real good good and great dessert (walnut and chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream)... I know for a fact that I am going to put on a lot of 'lbs'. I guess once I am back to FL, I will need start jogging everyday to loose the weight I am going to gain in the next 5 days!

What if oil price increases further?

This is what might happen if the price of gas continues to increase!!

Who says Money can't buy happiness??

I came across this article where a psychologist from the University of Illinois has said that MONEY can indeed increase happiness to some extent…

I guess Master Card needs to change its ad now… "There is nothing that Money can’t buy, so get yourself a Master Card"?

To some people, money is very important. To a lot of them happiness and peace of mind are more important. Does happiness/peace of mind and money go hand-in-hand??

Look whoz using Google :)

Google with its simple UI and amazing popularity is conquering the world...

Even the President of US seems to use it. Watch a video of him talking about Google!

I wonder who else is Googling???

Gatorade is not working for the Gators!

Last week the gators were awesome against LSU... This week against Auburn, they got burried!!
Are the gators winning because of Tim Tebau?

What is happening to Chris Leak? Yesterday in the last 3 mins, Leak caused the gat0rs a very expensive fumble...I think Leak has lost his confidence especially when the freshman (Tim) is simply unstoppable...

Hope they beat the Bulldogs on the 28th!!

What does it take to make it work??

I have always had this question in my mind..

What does it take to make a relationship work? But I have never found an answer. Be it a relationship between friends or couples.

Things always work out between parents and children (of course there are living exceptions to this) because parents are only looking for their children's happiness. They would do anything to make sure that their children are happy.. When parents do that, children tend to reciprocate the love and affection. Children respect their parents not because they get what they want but because they realize that parents want their happiness.

But with friends, it sometimes works out and sometimes doesn't. I think the main reason is that everyone of us is different. We have different thought processes, different frequencies, different perspectives.. In spite of all these differences, it works because you have your own breathing space.

When it comes to couples, a lot of the relationships have problems because it involves a Male and a Female. Men tend to change after getting into a relationship and women don't. Men are happy as long as things are smooth and women want things to happen at a decent pace especially when it comes to getting engaged. As long as it doesn't get to a point where one regrets being in a relationship, things go on.. There are always arguments and difference of opinions but ultimately when u love the other person a real lot, these things don't matter.

Isn’t it amazing that a single person deals with relationships very differently when playing different roles? I think Shakespeare was absolutely right about people and their roles in his work “All the world’s a stage” from the play As You Like It.

Why do men have simpler life??

Here are some answers I could think of...

Chocolate is just another snack.
You can wear a white T- shirt to a water park.
Wrinkles add character.
New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
One mood all the time.
A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.
You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife.
You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

Are they good enough??

But hey, Women are the ones who never loose the spotlight!!! Women have the talent of multi-tasking.. Women are the fortunate ones to create life (and destroy).. Finally Women are the smarter ones!!!!!

Florida, The Sun shine State for YOU!!!

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN FLORIDA IN JULY WHEN. . . .

The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.

The trees are whistling for the dogs.

The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.

Hot water now comes out of both taps.

You can make sun tea instantly.

You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.

The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.

You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.

You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.

You actually burn your hand opening the car door.

You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.

Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"

You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.

The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.

Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.

The cows are giving evaporated milk.

Ah, what a place to call home. . Inspite of all this.. Florida is still the best state in the US... The colorful beaches, the palm trees and the fact that there is no snow... Now you know why people love FL!

Back to School!

Today was the first day at school after a long gap of 3 months...

I got done with my internship on Monday, packed on tuesday and reached Gainesville last night...
I had a 8.00 AM class today... I devoted the whole morning after the class towards cleaning and arranging stuff. After all this I feel like a Zombieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I guess it is going to take me a while before I settle down.

Lets see how this goes....

Movie mania

Taxi

Watched this movie over the weekend… Hilarious!!!! I guess this is one of those movies which is very funny/good but not very famous.

The movie stars Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon. I would say that this is one of the funniest movies I have watched. Latifah is New York’s fastest cab driver whose dream is to become a NASCAR Racer. Fallon accidentally takes Latifah’s cab to chase four bank robbers. The movie is about how they both catch the robbers and all the funny things that happen in the process of doing so…

If you get a chance, do watch this movie..

Syriana..

I watched this movie a couple of days ago. I just couldn’t understand the plot. I had to go and read the plot on Wikipedia to actually assimilate what the main theme of the movie was.. After watching the movie, I thought that Matt Damon’s character was a waste. I really dint see any point for such a role in the movie.. WHAT IS THE CONNECTION???

Even if you are paid to watch this movie, DON’T!

Over the past 3 weeks, I have watched about 10 movies. I guess I am kind of getting addicted to watching a movie every alternate day.. Thanks to my coupons to Hollywood Videos, I dont spend too much on my little addiction!

Yet another Google product

Google has begun its chase after MS Office now....Google is coming up with a Spreadsheet to compete with MS Excel. Will this work?? You can read about it here

I personally feel that Excel has a lot more features and people are used to using Excel. Will all of them shift to Google Spreadsheet??
The big question "Is it a freeware?" If yes, Google has a chance of out beating MS.

So what do you guys think about this??

Long weekend!!

Finally the long weekend is almost here. People at work are all talking about their plans for this weekend. People have been talking about their Memorial day Weekend plans for almost 2 weeks now...Why cant people take a day off and turn a usual weekend into a long weekend??

I guess I am either going to stay at home and catch up on lectures or go on a road trip... I am 99% sure that I am going to end up doing the latter!!
Let me know what your plans are! May be I might end up in the same place ;)

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Most of you might have seen this video already. But I thought that I should write about it...

BBC had scheduled a live interview with Guy Kewney of Apple regarding the Apple Vs. Beatles lawsuit. But the interviewer ends up interviewing a guy named "Guy Goma" from Congo who is there for a job interview!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4D8w2v7IB8

It is a very funny video. A must watch!!!! I guess Goma did a real good job. If I were in his place, I am sure I would have freaked out... He answered the questions boldly even though he didn't know what he was talking. Listen to what he has to say very closely about the Internet.. But on the whole I think Goma did a good job of helping the show go on...

It is high time I posted here!!

It has been quite a long time since I posted.. Been pretty busy with shifting and settling down. Din't have internet at home until yesterday!!

Finally I have my access to the WORLD (Internet)!! Work has kept me occupied.. I work from 9.00 Am to 6.00 Pm and my supervisor makes sure that I am at work until 6.00 Pm.. Nothing to crib about... I am better off than a lot of them.. Atleast I don't have to carry work home.

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I followed the elections in Tamil Nadu and looks like DMK is back to power. Hopefully they will take 90% for themselves and give at least 10% back to the people of Tamil Nadu!!

Another interesting news is about Lok Paritran.. I just can't believe that they have already split. What a way to start. I think they made a big mistake of contesting at 7 places. Instead they should have stood at one place and concentrated on getting that one seat. According to be they are a bunch of learned idiots. Sorry to say this but after I read the news about their split and ego clashes in about 6months, what else can I call them?

Managed to survive

I am officially done with the Spring semester tomorrow!! I also managed to get a Summer Internship. Thanks a lot for all your wishes and encouragement during the SEARCH!

Cant believe that I have completed one year of my Master's..

The last week of a semester is always unimaginably hectic.. There are assignments, project submissions, presentations and exams... All this makes you feel like u wanna run away from school.. But I guess people somehow manage and pull it through..
At the end of each semester, I generally have the same thought.. Man this semester was the toughest.. But I know for a fact that I would say the same thing in six months again ;)

Jobs to look out for!!!

Came across this website which lists the top 100 companies to work for in the US!!

Thought it might be useful to people who are looking for jobs... also might give people who are working in one of these companies a good feel about working there!!!

Finally... Before I forget how to blog!

The past two weeks have been unimaginably hectic.. Assignments, presentations, projects as well as exams.. I am just waiting for this semester to end..

Too much of work makes you feel like u just wanna quit.. But I guess grad school is not about getting a 4.0 GPA.. it is more about hanging on with all the amount of work being thrown at you, being independent and most importantly "time management"... Most of us (Indians) lack the time management skills.. We tend to do things is the last minute and feel that things cannot be more tough on us.. I definitely fall into this category.. I hope that at least from the next semester onwards I will not procrastinate things!!
Lets wait and see ;)

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I got my Driver's license last week.. After infinite times of postponement and laziness I finally made it to the DMV and got it.. I am actually happy that I don’t have to go to that stupid place for another time, at least until my license expires!!

Dedication!

Last two weeks have been very hectic with back to back exams and assignments! Finally everything is done..

Today is a very special day for my family! It is my dad's b'day... More than that it is a very special b'day... I am dedicating my blog (not a big b'day gift) to him.

He has been my best friend, philosopher and guide. My dad and myself have never been like father and daughter.. We have been like great pals. He has taught me so much in life. Without my parents' blessing and goodwill, I will not be who I am today.

I have seen a lot of my friend's parents and seen how they are with their children. Most of them have this imaginary screen between themselves and their children. But my parents have always been very transparent and so friendly with my sister and myself that we always considered and will consider our parents to be our best pals.

May be the fact that they are so good to us and always put our happiness before theirs has been the reason for us to love our parents so much and always want us to be together...

I started missing my parents the day I landed in the US.. Now I am really happy that they were able to stay with me for a few months..

To my dad:

Dad you are the best human being I have seen all my life. You have always been a wonderful brother to your siblings, a great husband to mom and an amazing father.
I pray to God to give you happiness and health for all the years to come. I also pray to God that in all my next births, I should have the same parents and the same wonderful sister. Without the three of you I wouldn't even know what happiness means.

Thanks a lot for everything dad. I know that I can't repay you. But I know that I can always love you!

Google can be fun too!!

I have heard a lot of people say that at Google you work 170 hours a week ;)

I thought to myself that people must be mad to waste their life just to be a part of something big and fast growing! It appeared to me that Google hires people who are nerds and who don't know what leisure means...

After looking at these pictures, I guess I am completely wrong.. People work at Google at the same time they reap their benefits.. They have a very relaxed working atmosphere...

Great salary, amazing stock options ($$$$), secure jobs (Hopefully), a lot of freebies, good competition and a lot of fun… What more can one ask for?

Random thoughts

This week has been a pretty good week.

Got my assignment grades.. Nothing to crib out (Thats good news!)

I finally got an assistantship at UFL.. I was initially on a departmental scholarship so only my tution was paid and din't get any monthly pay cheques...

Now my tuition is paid and so are my monthly expenses... I am so relieved.

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Can't wait for the Spring break next week. I guess I will staying in Gainesville, quite a few projects to complete.. Not exactly a break.. It is going to be more like a relaxed week. No work/classes just assignments and mid-term preparations :(

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Last week we had the Student President Elections. I was kind of amazed at all the canvasing they did. The candidates were out talking to a lot of the students and asking for votes. Around 10,000 people had voted out of the 40,000 students. That is a pretty decent turnout!

A few Interesting One-Liners!

I was randomly browsing (something which I do pretty often) and came across some very funny and interesting one-liners

• Regular naps prevent old age... especially if you take them while driving.
• Take my advice... I don't use it anyway
• Men are like Government Bonds, they take a long time to mature
• Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and the other is the husband!
• Forgiveness is giving up my right to hate you for hurting me.

Are we missing out on something??

I have been wanting to write about this on my blog for a long time.. But I guess I had better thoughts to engrave..

I am sure that most of us use GMail. By far they provide the largest Inbox Size...

But everytime we use Gmail, we are allowing Google to read our messages. What they do is mine messages from our Inbox and display appropriate adds on the right hand side...I am sure that most of us would have noticed this but wouldn't have bothered... I sure din't bother.

They are not posting these adds based on the Subject Line alone... I sent a mail with irrelevant subject and body. But I got adds only based on the body of the mail. This definetly means that they are prying on our privacy. They are doing this because we are allowing them to do it as long as we get what we want... Larger Inboxes!!

A day in grad school !

8.00 AM: Alarm rings, look at the clock and decide you will get up after 1 hour and make it a point to switch off the alarm!

11.30 AM: Wake up and realize it is almost noon and you have a class at 12.20. Have a half-bath wishing you could sleep for 2 more hours and cursing yourself.

Noon: Catch the bus and start chatting with fellow desies. Discussions range from cricket to revolutionize the American Government

12.18 PM: Enter the class along with the professor

1.20 PM: Wake up after a very strong dosage of “λγβδφ”. You had no clue as to what the professor was talking about coz you didn’t attend the previous lecture (Had other important work to do – was in the middle of an interesting chat conversation with friends in India)

1.30 PM: Go to the lab and start browsing the Internet. By luck you land up on the course website and find out that you have an assignment due that night (some 10 problems). Very confident that you can finish it on time, you carry on with other stuff…

1.40 PM: Log on to Yahoo / MSN Messenger and wait for friends to come online.

2.15 PM: Your friends have logged off and you have nothing to do.

2.30 PM: Grab something to eat in Subway/ TacoBell (Too lazy to cook or carry food from home)

2.45 PM: Go to work and speak to your supervisor about something that you should have completed a week back… Tell him you had some technical difficulties and troubleshooting which had to be handled.

3.00 PM: Sit in your cubicle and stare at the computer screen wondering what to do. Then remember that your parents had sent you a mail two days back and you still hadn’t replied. After sending mails start working!!

6.15 PM: Go home. On the way home, talk to some 3 people on phone and tell them how busy you are ;)

6.30 PM: Start off promising yourself that you will watch TV for only 30mins. End up watching TV for 2 hours.

8.30 PM: Realize it is your cooking turn and cook some random dish (Poor roommates)

9.30 PM: Finish dinner and suddenly remember that an assignment is due that night!!

11.00 PM: You are stuck with a problem. Call up Tanya and ask her if she knows how to do it.. She is in no better position than you. Crib to her for 10 min about how difficult this course is and how the professor is not considerate at all and gives assignments every week.

11.15 PM: Call up Vikram (a total stud and would have already submitted the assignment for sure). He tells you what you have to do (use β reduction instead of δ)

11.50 PM: You are finally done with the assignment and submit it. Sigh!!

12.00 AM: Your friend comes home and asks you if you want to watch a movie… You have nothing to do anyways!!

2.30 AM: Get back home after watching a totally stupid movie… You promise yourself that you are going to become disciplined and will start getting up at 7.00 AM everyday and will not procrastinate things anymore.

Next day you completely forget the promise!!

Didn't believe it until today!

When people told me that Indians try to insult fellow Indians in interviews, I didn’t believe it.. Today it happened to me.

I had an interview with Microsoft and guess what? I got a desi interviewer! That (#$%^&) guy was trying to contradict me in everything I said. I guess his sole aim was to make me feel like I know nothing and he was Bill Gates's guide! I wanted to give him a piece of my mind as soon as the interview got over but then thought that I would be creating a scene. But I am going to write a very strong mail to Microsoft about what happened today.

I was surprised when the interviewer started of by saying that the position I had applied for was not defined right in the website and that I should think about it.. Then he goes directly to the questioning sessions! No warming up whatsoever.

He was very impatient and was trying to hurry me up! I guess he forgot the meaning of the word friendliness and smile. Then he asked me some design questions. To most of my answers he said that it is not going to work out... The question was about designing an elevator...

May be I shouldn't expect the interviewers to know how to smile and be friendly!

I guess today has by far been one of the worst days of my life for more than one reason :(

Fresh from the farm

I have never been into Organic Food before but all that changed when I started doing my groceries at this Supermarket called Wards here in Gainesville.

This poor man's "Whole Foods" has amazing variety when it comes to vegetables and fruits and has a well stocked collection of lentils,wine,juices from all parts of the world.Infact they even have a really good collection of our own Indian pulses.

And the price? Much cheaper than Albertsons and Winn-Dixie and even Wal-Mart!! I got a 5 lb atta bag from the Indian Store for $4.50 two weeks ago.The same atta (fresh and better quality) just costs $3 at Wards!

It is just an amazing place to shop at especially if you are a graduate student since its price and quality is hard to beat! Although from the outside it doesnt look very impressive, its definitely the place to do your groceries here in Gainesville!!

GatorNights

We have this awesome concept of having fun on Friday Nights. We hardly spend anything and guess what we get some free stuff too!! GatorNights are Friday nights when there is a movie and other shows happening at UFL.. At 12.00 AM free breakfast is served. What more can a graduate student ask for?

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I saw the movie Paramasivam starring Ajith, Laila, Prakash Raj and others. Oh My GOD, Big Mistake!! I couldn’t see even one logical scene. It was totally absurd. How could somebody direct a movie like this? To top it all this movie was said to be the comeback film for Ajith.. I wouldn’t even call it a movie. It was 2 hours of nonsense.

Brewing money - Starbucks!

A place frequented by most of the students... Actually not only when they are students, even after graduating!!

Starbucks is the largest Coffee chain in the US. I should say they have proved as to how something started small can become a Big Hit! Every major city / Univesity town has atleast one Starbucks.. All the airports have one.

I guess one of the criteria for opening a mall in the US, is that there should be atleast one Starbucks Store!!

This article is a cover story about Starbucks..

Let me share my views of the success of Starbucks..

A cup of coffee (12 Oz.) prepared at home will cost at the most 80 cents [commercially].. For the same, at Starbucks we pay $2.99... No wonder why they are making profits ($$$$)

Wasted 2 hours!!

I watched the movie "In America".. It was a very long and boring movie.. I have no clue as to why I sat through the movie!! It is about a family from Ireland who migrate to the US and stay on illegally... To me it didn’t seem like a movie about a family's suffering... It seemed more like a depiction of what happens when one stays in the US illegally!!

My advice: "Don't watch this movie... Please"

Indian society

Reservation System for education is totally unfair. People dont get what they actually deserve. Because of this the quality of education as well as the output from industries seem to go down.

How did a few of us feel when we lost the opportunity to get into a good engineering college because of the existing education system (based on caste) in Tamil Nadu inspite of having good grades?Didn’t we think it was unfair? Didn’t we want equality? Then how come we accept this system?

I really hope to get answers to these questions sometime in the future. I would really like to see the day when the whole caste system is abolished and everything is based on merit and personal achievements and all of us are considered as fellow humans.

Journey from Aggieland to Gatorland

First of all wish u all a very happy and prosperous new year!

I should say that the transition from being an aggie to a gator has been pretty quick!
I am finally settled down at Gatorland.

Picture source : Wikipedia

University of Florida is an amazing place. The school is accessible from anywhere in Gainesville.
There are amazing shuttle services which run every 10 mins!
I really like this place. I guess this is one decision which I will never regret.

Already I have made quite a few friends here. And guess what, I am staying in a townhouse apartment!! It is soo cool. I am all excited about my new chapter at Gainesville.