Obama, Stumbled upon and all the exciting jazz..

That I was a Hillary supporter some time back does not surprise many of my friends. Many think I am a feminist (I will argue that later, much later). What you need to know is that, back then, I had not done myself the favor of reading(a lot, at that) about Hillary and Obama. In due course, I did follow all the debates, arduously read a lot. What seemed totally ridiculous was when people (read journalists and people) popped the question – “So, do you support Hillary(for she would be the first woman President) or Obama(for he would be the first African American president)?”. Seriously, are one of them chosen for these reasons? Sure, it sounds exciting. Woman president and African American president. I did give in to this in the beginning. But at the end of the day, we like what we like because it appeals to us. It appeals to us because it resonates with our perceptions of the world and the way we want it to be. With the democratic front-runners the same is true. Obama fires up people because he either knows what people want or he knows at the least what they want to hear. In all the debates and speeches I have seen, Hillary has been vanilla. On the contrary, when I watch and listen to Obama I get excited. He exudes the appeal that I have often only heard of- that of someone inspiring. There is really one thing that sets him apart from Hillary: It seems to me, in as much as Hillary speaks well to people, she does that to get up there in power. She gives me the impression that she only “performs” her “rosy” talks to get into power. Now that is not the impression Obama gives me. With him, its the opposite. He seems to want to get into power to perform on those tasks and deliver the promises. In as much as I want to support a would be woman president, I strongly feel she lacks the chutzpah that she needs. And Obama effortlessly exudes that a great deal.

It was not too long ago when people would gamely demur the candidacy of Obama against Hillary.Recently, when I was commuting back home in DC I got into a conversation with an NPR employee. Until then I thought NPR employees are well informed enough to make their decisions. This woman was meaning to vote for Hillary. Much to my delight, I managed to change her mind. Whether she did vote for Obama is a different issue. But hey, i can be a great campaign manager!

And now for what I stumble(d) upon!
If you use firefox, you have to, have to, have to, download the plug-in “Stumble upon”. Thanks to Kaku for introducing me to it. It is like Dig or del.icio.us but much more exciting. You can discover so many cool websites with the click of a button. Here are some fun sites I discovered:

All of George Orwell’s works
Diamonds
Paint it!
Horses can sing too
Pug doggie
London
The no buttons interface

Go ahead and install this plug-in. As my friend points out it is damn addictive. And I say its just too cool!

Not so trivial

My bad. Networking is the buzz here! And, boy, did i fall prey! It was a not-so-quiet dinner in a posh restaurant. I look up the menu and all I could get was the vegetarian platter. Everything else had meat in it. So did I have a choice at all?!Besides I was terribly hungry! So I went ahead and did so. It was all good until I got my vegetarian platter which turned out to be a “badly cooked vegetables platter”. All the spoilt consultants around me gave the look! And pop came a question – “So what do you do for fun? Eat vegetables?”. (And this being part of my getting to know my colleagues) It was not my day alright. It is quite a deal being a vegetarian. Often asked am I, does your religion forbid you from eating cheese, milk blah blah.. Blahhhh blahh blahh! As if all that was not enough, they were sorry for me! Everytime I meet one of these colleagues who shared a table with me, I am greeted – ” Hey! there you are, the vegetarian!”. To these people, it is oh-so-hard to understand why I would be a vegetarian by choice at all!

Have been reading Shantaram. I had heard a million praises and read wonderful reviews. As the book unfolds I could not agree more how well the book is written. To me, it is not so much about the other side of Mumbai that is revealed as it is about how well the thoughts are articulated. Was I so narrow minded to think a convict could never write a thought provoking book? Well, yes, I guess. And now, I have a perspective. In a world that more or less clearly defines what is right and wrong, what is good and bad, I cannot help but be judgmental. Clearly, to me a convict so far was a person who could never dream big (and write so well). And here is this guy who has probably written the most moving and thought provocative lines. Boy, am I surprised to realize how narrow minded I am. I now do have another great book in my “Already read list”. What is more important is how it has radically changed my thinking to a certain extent – That there are no demarcations between good and bad and that they always certainly are subjective. And yeah, I realized how judgemental and wrong I am!

Did I mention that I have not really made American and European friends. I have been here for over 17 months now. Not that I have to, but I want to! Turns out that any town in US has so many Indians around that sub consciously I have hung out only with them. And while I am at that, New York – where I will be spending most of my next 2 years(hopefully!), is filled with Indians! (Alright, alright,I hear all the “Duh”s). Yet, I cant stress enough! I meet all my good old Bangalore friends every now and then. I have no hopes of making any new friends at all there! So much for living in the U.S. of A.

And when it rains it pours!

Times were many when I had no clue where I was heading. And then, thoughts such as – “Did i make the right decision by coming here leaving my comfort zone?” always lingered around. Times change, and yes, I am in good stead to know where I am going now. All that matters! Hmmmm.. Oh well! I am graduating!! Yayy!

The feeling of gratuity and the realization of reason has suddenly dawned! My graduate studies are done. The benefits are reaped. And, ahead of me lies a life which knows what to expect. Much of the remaining period of rest and play until I start work has been planned out. Once work starts, it is probably going to be mundane. For a long time during graduation it was all about grades, then the period of job interviews ( which was a pain, I tell u!!) and then the time to choose between jobs. There was always excitement. Right now, I am a couch potato! Nothing to work for – I have almost graduated and I have the job which was the ulterior motive! It looks like I know the path ahead of me and yet there is some uncertainty lurking around it.

I have now realized, in so long as you have a risky and challenging task in hand life proves to be fun and exciting. I now wonder why people want to “settle down”. It is kinda boring. True to its literal meaning, I dont want to. I thoroughly believe it now – You should live on your edge! Jump the ridges and make a mistake, hurt yourself and rest a bit, wake up again and explore it all; of a world that you have not seen. I shall now say to thee my life – “Bring it on”

So far..

It has been a while and I was all lazy! My experiences and emotions and what not failed to convince me to articulate them to dazzle on my blog page. They tried hard. But, Oh well!

Colors of my day
Yes, they want to shine through words
Thoughts of my mind, That gave me quite a time
They aspire to speak a story
And all the crazy dreams
I would spin them on a timeless yarn – Or so they thought
Nothing, Oh yes, Nothing
Could entice me yet.
Yes, the slumber party is over
And, I am back in the daylight
To adorn all of thee!
And time is all of now!

Pardon my rambling. Feels good to be blogging again!

ps: The other day my friend pinged me and said lets watch OSO again tonight. For a moment all I could think was Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Object Oriented Programming(OOP), Enterprise Architecture(EA) and the likes. Nah, OSO is none of these course that we take!! It’s Om Shanti OM. When you want to believe that some people don’t know of logic then you have to, have to watch this!!

Sepia Mutiny, Bollywood et all..

One of my everyday reads is Sepia Mutiny. The following that the posts have there are phenomenal. It comes with little wonder why. What with posts that cover thy desi-amrika linked stories with much chutzpah! Talking about issues and happenings that are mostly overlooked by me otherwise. I have a new perspective about various aspects – I always thought desis in US feign stories of India and its associations with the world outside. Not true! I have a bunch of friends who religiously read Sepia Mutiny for the wonderful coverage of human interest stories they do. And most of them are the desis in America.

What Initially drew me to Sepia Mutiny, though, were the colorful banners (note the “color” and not “colour” – Im turning American!). When i dug up the blog to have a look at the banners that are used here – I was surprised to see the amount of them having the bollywood and Bombay influence. The swell banners are here! I cannot help but not deny the association of India with bollywood. Not a bad thing. But it does not feel great about not having associations to the culture or the the cosmopolitan fabric it holds. Bollywood is not niche, and that is why it is not the done thing to be associated so heavily to it.

Not a day passes by in most parts of an average Indian’s life without having the talk of bollywood. (Pardon the not-so-much-of-a generalization!). It is somehow has had the most drastic influence on minds in India. The youth take on to bollywood. Allow me to say that – No! I don’t mean bollywood is a bad influence. But it does not deserve to have the influence to bring a cultural shift. A simple example – any dress that Madhuri dixit wore was a rage!

I recently read this article about how long loved Indian sari has been less embraced by Indian women, thanks to Sepia Mutiny to pointing me to the article. You can find it here – The sari saga . Shashi Tharoor, notes how suits and slacks and trousers have replaced saris at work place. Yet, I clearly remember women flanking gorgeous looking saris after the Aishwarya Rai movie Shabd. It was glamorous to do so – wear light saris to work, for it looked great in the movie! Oh yes it would! She is Aishwarya Rai! You don’t want society to follow the foot steps of bollywood!

Oh well…

Was it divine providence?
Or just the lame happenings
Of bygone days
That memory wouldn’t relinquish?
For time yields
And I will let them be
I have kicked the dust
To walk past ahead
While you lie in the shrouded mists
Of my remembrance
Until all of ‘you’ is effaced
Into the worthless abyss of time

Mid-week off!

The holiday on America’s birthday was more than welcome! Apart from it being another holiday it was a mid-week holiday – which I much liked. I am sure most of you would too. This Wednesday holiday suggested me of many more pleasant soothing mid-week holidays, if at all they were an option! And why not so!? Just when you thought you are out of your monday blues and settle into your tuesday the mid-week wednesday holiday is right there! And just another 2 days and you will be off for the weekend! I could not help but think of all the positive effects of this. There were times when I wanted to just laze at home in the weekends – yet I would take off shopping and partying. With this wednesday off I could do all the resting and lazing on the wednesdays and all the fun in the weekends! Sounds too good! Oh I wish!! Wednesdays would then have been a day for naps, lots of coffee and reading books!

Speaking of which, in the last 45 days I have read 6 books – not a great feat, I am delighted much the same. Ever since setting foot on the US, this is the first time I read so much at a stretch and I am oh so glad! An equal music(Vikram Seth), Animal Farm and 1984(George Orwell), Catcher in the rye, Sidney Poitier’s autobiography and Tolkien’s The Hobbit. All of them made for an enjoyable and thought provoking reading! I have 2 more to finish before I leave to India. And they being – Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the time of cholera and the other being the much celebrated “The world is flat”. I would love to boast and yap about my 8 books feat to my dad! So much for the love of books!