Just Roby

Wonderland

2009-09-14T21:43:00.003-05:00

It's not just Alice who has been to wonderland. I feel that each one of us in our own special way is living in wonderland. Some memorable and some not so memorable days in our daily lives make us feel that we are living in wonderland. The experiences that we live through each day are so unique and different each day that we feel immature and inexperienced. Perhaps I'm taking everyone for granted by writing 'we' when my conclusion is based solely on my experience.

On other topics, I still wonder why none of the people I know are on Twitter. Isn't tweeting the next coolest thing yet? A lot of them are on Facebook and Orkut but not on Twitter for some strange reason. Perhaps, i don't belong there either.

Tomorrow is an important day for me. I hope what I'm up to will go well.

Now this is turning into a diary entry than a blog post and so I'm done.

I dreamed a dream ...

2009-07-09T10:47:00.008-05:00

I have wondered many times about how dreams work. I'm sure I'm not the only person and that people have even done research on the topic and come to different conclusions. This post is about a dream that I had a couple of nights ago.

A former coworker of mine, Cobe, who lives in Canada now was in the dream. In it, the two of us were buddies and were playing a game which looked like cricket on ice. It's strange because Cobe and I have never even talked about cricket let alone play the game. What's stranger is the fact that the game in my dream is not an existing sporting event at all. It was a fusion of, perhaps, cricket and ice hockey which I know for a fact is his passion (or at least he has interest in the game and follows it).

The story only gets stranger. Cobe and I were younger in the dream and were playing as though the rest of the world didn't matter to us. His mother kept calling out to him to get back home but he ignored it as any boy of that age would do. I don't know his mother in real life and don't recall Cobe talking about her during our acquaintence. Any way, Cobe's mom (or mum as they say in Canada) finally came out of the house to me and said "Roby please tell him to get in; he'd listen to you". Yes, typical of my friends' moms. They all think that I have an influence on their sons.

Any way, I worked out a compromise between Cobe and his mom that we'd wind up after the current game is over. There's me the negotiator!

Strange story, isn't it?

Tribute

2009-06-26T08:41:00.007-05:00

Hello, World! The last time I posted on my blog was two years ago, I believe and Michael Jackson has brought me back to my blog after a long gap. As we all know, Michael Jackson passed away yesterday - an untimely death, the death of an icon loved by many, hated by some but remembered by a lot.

The reason why I'm writing this today is because I'm simply amazed by the memories his death has brought back to my mind. Growing up in India, I didn't know much about pop or any kind of western music. Of course, ABBA and Boney M were popular in that part of the world also but it was Prem who introduced me to Michael Jackson. Prem was one of my best friends who went to school with me from 1st grade through 8th. He somehow knew about Michael Jackson and his music and was an ardent fan of the pop star. I borrowed tapes of Michael Jackson's albums Bad, Thriller and Dangerous from him to listen. It's amazing that I remembered Prem this morning after such a long time. I wonder where he is now and what he is doing. Even though I know that there is little chance of him reading this post but still Prem, if you do read this, I hope you are doing well.

I knew about Michael Jackson's other releases from time to time and a song of his that I won't forget is "Black or white" which was used by my team that took part in a fashion show back in college in India.

The radio station that I listen to in the mornings I drive to Peoria ran a tribute to Michael Jackson this morning. One of the hosts of the morning show had a touchy story to tell about Michael Jackson. Apparently, when he was little it was his older sister who introduced him to the pop star with the song "I'll be there for you ..." and its lyrics. He said on the radio that his sister passed away and he remembers growing up with her and misses her dearly.

Call it coincidence that it was my oldest sister who bought me my first and only Michael Jackson tape. After listening to the tapes borrowed from Prem, I asked my sister if she could buy me a tape too. She was very kind and bought me a tape of Michael Jackson's "We are the world" tour. Like the radio host, my sister also passed away and I miss her dearly.

Different

2007-06-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

I don't know if any one noticed or not but the section of this blog where I briefly describe myself is now different from how it was when I first started creating posts. I don't think many people read my blog but I hope at least one of those very few who read noticed the change. I sincerely do. I'm a person who pays attention to details and often notices changes. I not only notice changes but also observe things that are new to me. I noticed a lot of new things, cultural, conceptual, behavioral - you name it, when I came to the United States five years ago and I continue to do so. After all changes make our lives interesting.
Any way, the reason why I brought the issue of change in my description up is because the first version included the fact that I call myself "different". Am I really different or is it just that I'm currently with a pack of people who don't care about what happens around them that makes me look like I'm standing out? I wonder about that quite often.

My friend Miracle and I have realized, on several occasions, that we are wasting our lives by not doing so many things that we do have the chance and ability to do. Why don't I do any of that? I come to this conclusion that I should not be selfish and do things that bring pleasure and satisfaction to myself but should should also consider people who matter to me. The irony is in the fact that these so called things that I want to or would like to do are not purely for my own pleasure. I think of doing things for others, the poor, the helpless, the sick, the homeless, the less privileged and the god forsaken. Why don't I get out of the box and do what I want to do? Why do I always have second thoughts?

I have a feeling that this post is going to be awfully long and I ask myself why bother write all these. Who is going to read? Will it make any sense to the person who might read this? Chances are no one might read this and even if some one does, it might not make sense. You know why? because I'm talking about myself. I'm writing my thoughts as I think. What I think need not make any sense to others and I feel that it should not unless you know me so well, well enough to interpret my thoughts the same way as I do.

Here are some of the ideas that I have about things that happen around us. I don't like to have pets and call them man's best friends. If you ask me why, my answer is that animals are not supposed to be given orders to so that they will please you. They are supposed to be out there in the wild. I ask people how would they feel if they had a collar around their neck and a leash to hold them back from going where they want to. We call them man's best friends because we train them to act in such a way that they act according to our wishes.

Now, you might ask doesn't the same apply to how you discipline kids? No it doesn't. We discipline kids, teach them etiquettes and manners, punish them for wrong doings and so on because that is how mature their minds are. Kids do not have the ability to think rationally. We need to mold and shape their minds so that they grow up to be mature individuals who are capable of making the right decisions. That is why I got angry, not at any one in particular but at society on the whole, when I watched a news article on CNN where they showed some parents who let their kids decide what they wanted to learn from when the were five. Guess what one of the kids wanted to learn - online shopping.

The parent might think she is doing a favor to the kids by leaving the choice up to him or her but the truth, at least according to me, is that they are making a blunder. The kids will grow up not knowing much about the world other than online shopping and how long do you think the attention span will be?

Yes, this is getting very long and boring. May be I should stop thinking and focus on the paper that I'm actually working on so late in the evening.

Before I wind up, let me mention about something funny that happened at work the other day. My manager, a co worker and I figured out something that was randomly sequential. Did that make sense? See! I told you it won't!

Have a kid to send to college? Did you add gun to the list of items to buy for him or her?

2007-04-17T14:58:00.000-05:00

I have been reading and watching a lot of the coverage on the massacre on VT campus today. One interesting article was an interview that was aired on MSNBC. There was this gentleman saying that Cho managed to kill thirty people because no one else had a gun to pull out and shoot at him. I couldn't believe what I heard for a second or two. The solution for gun crime is more guns? What kind of world are we living in?

People of this country have to think out side the box. It is high time they did that. Reactions from all over the world are pouring in and many in Europe and other parts of the world suggest that it is high time America had more stringent laws to control arms. Right now, it takes just three forms of ID for any one to buy a gun. What I don't understand is why do we need guns to protect ourselves?

Why did this happen?

2007-04-17T08:03:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I wrote something. The incidence at Virginia Tech yesterday has prompted me to jot down a few words. One gunman, with a couple of hand guns managed to kill 32 people including himself. Was he frustrated with failure in academics? failure in a relationship or was he simply playing god?

Innocent victims who went to school that Monday morning as on any day didn't know what was in store for them. Some of them didn't know that that day was going to be their last day on earth. How easy is it? How easy is it to get hold of a gun and start shooting people indiscriminately?

The question that came to my mind as soon as I came to know about this event is how easy is it to get hold of a gun in this country? Guns can't be shipped to any one without an FFL (Federal Firearms license) but any one can purchase a gun from a store that has an FFL. Where do you find a store with an FFL? Go on line or check your phone book, you will find plenty of resources.

I have seen a lot of billboards along the freeways about gun control. www.gunssavelife.com is a website apparently dedicated to the people their right to own guns. Do guns really save lives? Is that what happened in VT yesterday? Why do have to have guns to protect ourselves? More than thirty thousand people die every year due to violence involving guns. Kids take guns to high schools, to colleges, toddlers get killed playing with guns, come on, this is the limit. It is time the politicians stopped thinking about invading other countries and instead focussed on what's happening at home. My request to them is to please put together tougher laws, amend the constitution, prevent easy access to guns, Buy all the guns that are out there. Days have changed. People, at least most people, are not barbaric any more to have a clause int he constitution that everyone needs guns to protect themselves. We don't need guns to protect ourselves. We know better than that.

The real worry

2006-10-27T08:17:00.000-05:00

The troupes in Iraq are under tremendous stress and some Vietnam veterans say that these soldiers might find it harder than they did after the war. Last night NBC's Brian Williams did a story on how the troupes are handling such situations. Stress management sessions are offered to the soldiers and they are told how to better cope up with the hardships that they are subjected to everyday. The soldiers carried lucky charms like gold coins, photographs and so on but the most striking fact was the fear that many soldiers carried in their hearts but never discussed among themselves. The real fear, the real worry, the worry about "Jody". What is Jody or rather who is Jody? Jody is, explained one soldier, the guy back home who is with the wife or the girl friend.

It is not just the enemy that a soldier has to worry about. He doesn't know if he is going to go back home only to see his loved ones with Jodi. What a soldier!

Latter days

2006-08-21T09:50:00.000-05:00

Often when I read books, especially fiction, I have wondered how people can think so much before they respond to certain questions. This had never happened to me in real life and that made it even harder to get a good feeling about how exactly would you react to certain questions for which you'd have to weigh the possible answers before you actually give one out. It happened to me yesterday.

Two young women, may be in their twenties, have moved in to the same building as where I live. They always wore a badge on their shirts and I wondered what was written on those badges because I figured that it was not just their name but something more. Another reason why I paid attention to these women is because they said that I drove a cool car. "Look he's got a hybrid!" - I heard one of them tell the other when I pulled into my parking lot and the other one responded "Hey, nice car!". Yes, I drive a gas-electric Toyota Prius and I'm very proud of it because it is a good car, saves money on gas (I'm sure I have not attained break even yet), it is technologically advanced and I'm a tree hugger (I have read that the emission from this car is comparable to liquid propane) and so I like people complimenting me on driving it.

Yesterday, on my way to the soccer game, I ran into these women again. This time I was close enough that I could read their badges. One of them had already passed me and the other was on her way in to the building and I was between the two. I didn't want to look like a pervert staring at this woman's shirt and so decided to ask her if I could read her badge. The first line was her name, which I don't remember any more, and the second and third lines read "The church of the latter day saints". I read this loud enough that both the women could hear what I had just read.

At that moment this woman asked me if I have heard of their church and I instantly said yes and that is when it all happened. Her next question was "From where?" Boy, was I in trouble? From the moment she asked that question and till the time I answered her, I had a fraction of a second to think and also say something. Within that fraction of a second so many thoughts went through my mind. Actually so many replies came up in my mind. This is how Roby's mind worked in that infinitesimally small period of time:

Response: I have read that your church allows, sorry used to allow polygamy. Some of your members who call themselves 'fundamental Mormons' still believe and practice polygamy.
Possible outcome: I thought if I say that they might get offended.

Response: I have heard that you claim that there is a fifth Gospel or something similar.
Why I didn't: I wasn't sure what exactly was it that they claimed.

Response: I have heard that you believe that by living in a certain way you can be God.
Why not? I heard this from a so called protestant evangelist who said on TV that "Catholics and Mormons claim that by being good, you can become God". I certainly know that Catholics do not believe that. What these guys preach lacks credibility and so I don't trust anything that they say. So I couldn't tell her that either.

Response: I watched the movie "Latter days", a movie in which a few Mormon guys live in an apartment in LA, and one of them is gay and falls in love with another guy who lives next door, gets caught kissing him, gets excommunicated, is put in a mental asylum and so on.
Now that is one response that I certainly didn't want to give. There are several reasons why I didn't want to say that. First of all, they might get offended, secondly, it could be embarrassing for them and last and perhaps the most important one was they might think that I'm gay. I will have to explain to them that I'm not (I'm married to a beautiful woman) and that I have watched many independent movies and this was just one of them and so on. That involved a lot of talking to save my skin.

I was aware that time was running out and that I had to giver her a response because other wise I would look like an idiot who said something just for the sake of saying. Then I remembered the music CD that some group that is affiliated to this church released a couple of years ago. The CD was a collection of Christian devotional songs but compiled and based on Mormon believes. I told her that I have seen commercials of this CD on TV. Well, I got away with a response. It was still not the best because she herself was not aware of this CD but I'm certainly glad that I didn't give any of the other responses that came to my mind before this one and found myself walking towards my car giving the excuse that I have to go as I had a soccer game to play in.

Among other things, I had a good weekend.

Conspiracy Theory

2006-08-11T07:45:00.000-05:00

Kevin Barret, a UW - Madison professor is offering a course in Fall 06 on Islam. He is also the founder of the Muslim Jewish Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth. According him, the 9/11 plot did not happen as the government says it did. This, he says, he concluded after three years of research and evidence from the rubble of the collapsed building. When any one reads this or perhaps have heard about this on TV or elsewhere would wonder what kind of a "nut case" is this man. I probably did too. A theory like this would face outright rejection because people will wonder why would the government come up with a plot like this at the expense of innocent lives.

Yesterday, British intelligence agencies announced that they have foiled an attempt by terrorists, who might have links to al-Qaeda, to blow up nine airplanes midair killing all those aboard. The airlines chosen were American, United and Continental all of them leaving for different destinations in the United States from the UK. This, if carried out, would have caused mass destruction of life of innocent civilians. The suicide bombers had intended to carry liquid explosives on board and detonate them using electronic devices like cell phones or MP3 players.

This, obviously, has resulted in heightened security arrangements at all airports causing delays and cancellation of several flights all over the world. Several passengers got stranded at different airports and there was utter chaos and confusion. It is a great achievement in the fight against terrorism. This has lead to the prevention of loss of innocent lives and other economic impacts on the world. This has also lead to a situation where the world, rather the western world, might look down up on Islam and Muslims.

What makes me wonder is if this is a conspiracy theory as well. GWB and TB are not the most popular leaders of the world any more. I don't know if they ever were but yes, their popularity has declined at home and abroad. Why not come up with a theory about such a break through and look good. One might ask, why would governments commit such preposterous actions causing pain and suffering to the people all over the world. If you think about it, if the conspiracy theory on 9/11 according to people like Mr. Barret is true, there is no reason why one should not suspect another conspiracy theory. The American stand on the Israel - Lebanon conflict has not received wide acceptance in the international front, Bush's popularity rating at home is at an all time low, November elections are around the corner; give me more reasons why one should not think about such an idea to divert people's attention.

Well, I hope this is not true but given the circumstances that we are living in, I could not help but wonder.

Time for another exile?

2006-07-31T08:54:00.000-05:00

Israeli rocket attack on a residential building on Sunday killed close to sixty people, thirty seven of them being children. The explanation from Israel - "It was a mistake" they said something similar to this when the UN post was attacked last week where six aid workers were killed. A mistake indeed and mistakes like these go on for ever. Yesterday I watched a report on TV about the double standards of media reports. Some people feel that the media is biased and is supporting the Lebanese when Israelis are suffering because of the rocket attacks from across the border in the north. The report showed Israeli people, grown ups and kids alike inside under ground bomb shelters living the best life they could given the present circumstances and the participants said that the Israelis are suffering a lot because of this crisis. Let us look for a moment on the plight of the Lebanese. If the Israelis are living in shelters, the Lebanese are living in their own apartments not protected but in a very vulnerable situation. One Lebanese man spoke about the Qana incident that he could not find help at the hospitals because the authorities could not do anything because of such attacks.

What the western world has not realized so far is that this action of Israel that has support from USA and Britain, is brewing hatred towards them among people not just in the Arab world but also among people all over the world. I personally have started losing the respect that I had for the United Nations. It has been more than two weeks since the crisis started and the UN has not done anything to stop it. People have called for restraint and ceasefire but it has not happened till now. What is the purpose of an organization if just a couple of its member nations are dictating the way it should act?

If this attitude of the Israelis continues and if the western countries continue to support them in such actions, it won't be too late before another Israeli exile and believe me, they will not have many to sympathize.

The world has given permission to ... attack and kill?

2006-07-28T09:56:00.000-05:00

Fifteen hundred rockets and still counting. Four hundred civilian casualties, thousands of refugees, Ninety percent of the bridges and eighty percent of the roads and the only major international airport - all destroyed. All these in the name of cleansing a terrorist organization. The Israeli ambassador to the UN told his Lebanese counterpart in the first couple of days of the crisis that his country was helping the latter's. Excuse me, did he say helping? The powerful countries of the world met together in Rome to discuss a solution but could not reach an agreement on enforcing a ceasefire on both sides. Why? Because Uncle Sam would not cooperate!

Those who have been following the progress (wrong word) of the crisis must have noticed that the media, especially American, blows it out of proportion when, say, three Israeli civilians die when at the same time when hundreds of Lebanese die, it is just a piece of news. Why does America support Israel so blindly? The partiality is so obvious that it makes it looks like a mother showing favoritism to one of her children.

The irony is that the UN is not able to do anything about it. Tony Blair wanted ceasefire and so did leaders from all over the world and there she is - Condoleezza Rice, the angel of peace, the dare devil who flew right in to the Lebanon, into war zone to show that America cares. She says that there can not be a ceasefire until there is a permanent solution and the rest of the world does nothing about it. Where is the UN? Too bad one of their own posts was hit by Israeli rockets. The truth is the UN can not do anything. The way the UN is set up, unless there is unanimity, they can not pass a resolution because some one can veto. What is going to happen is that the fighting will come to end when Israel feels that it has destroyed much of Lebanon and tells the world that it has destroyed Hezbollah. By then at least a thousand civilians would have died and the life will just go on in the rest of the world.

Will the US do something at least now that Israel has said that it got the permission from the countries of the world to keep attacking the Lebanese territory?

"Shove it" or tough "s***"

2006-07-18T14:16:00.000-05:00

It was during the 2004 presidential election campaign that Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of candidate John Kerry, told a reporter from the Tribune-Review "Understandable. You said something I didn't say -- now shove it." That kind of a reaction is not befitting a potential first lady, is it? A couple of weeks ago I read an article in one of the prominent web sites about Hillary Clinton, a former first lady and a potential "first lady" of the country being rude in her choice of words when it comes to dealing with people who work for her and that made some people wonder if they would vote for her in the event of her contesting in the presidential election in 2008. Are we so particular about the choice of our future presidents and first ladies that we care so much for the way they talk? Of course yes, they are supposed to be the highest forms of life on earth and they set examples to fellow human beings all of the country (if not the world) in the way the walk, talk and what not! But, when it comes to GWB, there seem to be exceptions to everything. He is "the president" you see, the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the savior of democracy in the world (read one in charge of protecting oil fields in the world) and in deed, the most powerful man. Those who saw the clip from the recently held G8 summit would know how his mannerisms are in public. Some of his gestures are so dirty that I couldn't stop myself from writing about it.

Here are some of his actions that irked me:
1. The number of times GWB interrupted Tony Blair while he was speaking. Excuse me but isn't that something that they teach you when you are in Kindergarten?
2. Talking while his mouth was full. Again, kids who go to elementary school know better.
3. Open mouth chewing. I hate that noise.
4. The funniest of all "Yo Blair" greeting. What did he think? Blair is his buddy from the hood? What do you know, the next time he might say "Blair, what up dawg?"
5. Last but not the least using the four-letter word in an audience where many of the world's leaders are present. I don't even want to go there.
Is that what they teach in schools in Texas? Where is the standard that America has set for its presidents? Does GWB enjoy a unique privilege where he can do and say what his mind tells? His actions make me feel that we have a punk for a president.

Among other things, as of today 14,000 Iraqis have died in since the beginning of the year. Isn't that "one of the reasons" why we went to Iraq for a war - to stop genocide?

Build a nation's pillars deep.

2006-07-13T10:19:00.000-05:00

Response to an article by Saisuresh on rediff.com
( http://us.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/12sai.htm?q=tp&file=.htm)

While it is true that the reactions to terrorist attacks by India and the US of A are poles apart, there is merit in the way India reacted to the recent incident and has been reacting in the past. One might wonder why instead of pointing fingers at Pakistan, Dr. Singh noted that this was a cowardly act of terrorists. The underlying fact is that India has been a nation that stood for principles and will continue to stand for it. Yes America went after the terrorists in Afghanistan and in doing so they knew what they were doing and they almost put an end to the menace and Laden is probably inside a hole. But look what happened when they went after Iraq? Look at what is happening to Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria who believe in an "eye for an eye" tactic? They are losing their own people. Even if India were to go after Pakistan, what should India do? Bomb Karachi to ashes? How will that help? Will killing innocent people of that country bring peace or for that matter any solution to the problem? Diplomatic and peaceful efforts are always the best way to approach such issues. We cannot expect a solution to these issues overnight. It will take a long time. Unless the situation is something like what happened in Punjab where the terrorists took refuge in one place - the Golden Temple in the 80s. Mrs. Gandhi took the right move at that time because the target was consolidated and it was easier to eliminate the enemy unlike today when the enemy is all over the world and is getting financial and material support from different agencies including those supported by some governments. Also, if you were concerned about the PM not addressing the country, I think you aired your concern a little too soon.

India will stand tall among the nations of the world for its dealing with enemies in a peaceful and diplomatic way.

Football - One World

2006-07-09T17:23:00.000-05:00

Viva Italie!

Italy won the FIFA world cup football championship 2006 in German grounds at the famous (or rather infamous) Olympiastadion where Adolf Hitler watched an man of inferior skin color win four gold medals decades ago. I will spare the details of the match but the best part of the match, in fact, the the best part of the championship is the fact that it brought the entire world together. According to the commentators an estimated one billion people watched the match live. Unlike the sport called football in this part of the world, where it is more mud wrestling than anything else, this event is watched by people of all kind. The Boston City Center ground was packed with at least a thousand people watching the match on a wide screen TV. "Is that Boston? I'm didn't know that Boston had that many football fans" said one of the men who waatched the match with me. I was a bit surprised when another gentleman made this remark "This is the real championship. This is much bigger than super bowl or world series". I felt that there are people who recognize the fact that there are events outside the borders of this country that not only stand for a great sporting event but also a great cause for human unity. I felt very good about it. The broadcasters did a wonderful job by playing a song from U2's "One game changes everything" campaign. From Africa to Russia and Australia to Argentina, this event united the entire world for at least a brief period of time.

Of course, there are some elements of shame in any great event. One man's stupidity led not only to his disqualification but also to a sever blow in the face of a team, a country that palyed so well that it might have won otherwise. I guess any coin will always have two faces. But the true spirit of sportsmanship and world unity stood out during the past few days.

Bill Clinton was at the game with his daughter!

Disinvestment - not good in my backyard; everywhere else - the best thing to happen in today's world.

2006-07-06T08:54:00.000-05:00

Employees a of Neyveli Lignite Corporation, NLC, went on an indefinite strike on July 6 protesting the Indian government's decision to hive off ten percent of its share in the company. The bus and taxi operators expressed their support to the employees by staying away from the roads or "observed a bandh" and the educational institutions in the township declared a holiday. The thermal power generation stations were shut off bringing the production down to zero. There was one exception though - a small unit operated with a few people to meet in-house demand. Isn't that hypocrisy? Why work to meet in-house demand? Let everyone live in darkness. People have decided not to work, they don't deserve light, do they?

I was told that the NLC management has started observing performance of the employees and the trade unions do not enjoy the power to influence the decisions made by the management any more. Are these some of the reasons why they are concerned about the idea of disinvestment? The employees were extended an offer in which they could buy shares themselves but that did not please them in any way. What exactly are they worried about? Are they worried about the security of their jobs?

This is purely a political drama. The ruling party threatened the union government that it would withdraw its support if the government went ahead with its decision and the union government simply put a hold on its decision. The politicians want to remain in power rather than think about the development of the country.

Disinvestment is good. India has been realizing that for the past few years but when it comes to someone's very personal interest, disinvestment is the last thing to be considered. I have a few questions to the striking employees. Do they not have any sons or daughters in their families who work for private companies in India and other countries around the world? If the management is more particular about performance why does it hurt the employees? Why would the company lay off people if there are projects to be executed? People should get over the idea of getting a job after graduating from college, stay in that line, be promoted every few years, retire and live happily ever after. How boring is that? Perform well, impress your manager and try to climb up the organizational structure and excel in life - shouldn't these be the goals?

A majority doesn't think so, I believe.

Perhaps I wouldn't have written this post unless I have someone very dear to me work for NLC.

Oliver asks for 'more'

2006-01-25T08:45:00.000-06:00

Many people I know, mostly Indians, have a strange habit of using the word "more" inappropriately. I have heard people making statements like "I like this route to town more better because it is more straighter, more simpler and more shorter". Of course, they might not use so many "more"s but what I'm trying to convey here is that the word "more" is used incorrectly in such statements. Those who use more incorrectly do not realize that adding a "more" does not make the comparison any better but is in fact a wrong usage. Miracle, my friend, does this at times but feels very bad about it because he knows that it is wrong. What I like about him is that he does not mind when I point out the mistake and tries very hard not to repeat it.

But such wrong usage is common not just among people raised in India. I have heard my nephew and his friends, who go to school in the United States, and other kids of his age on TV say "mostest" on occasions and a commercial for a TV series says that the episodes this season are "badder" than before. I understand that languages evolve with time but going in the wrong direction does not seem to be in the best interest of people who care about languages.

This blog seems to be turning in to an English tutorial. However, that is not my intention. When I grew up in India, my parents subscribed to the "The Hindu", one of the popular news papers, which on Tuesdays carried a column called "Know your English". I liked reading it. They pointed out some wrong usages and some right ones that people use every day.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I'm not the world's best English speaker but I make an effort to speak good English. I love the language.

Bring or Take

2005-12-22T09:37:00.000-06:00

"I brought a gift for my friend when I visited him". Does that sound weird? Yes, to most people who learned English growing up in India. I came to the United States about four years ago and have always found this usage very funny. I once mentioned this to a friend of mine and she didn't even think that there was anything wrong in the usage. I'm not surprised because she and others have been taught that way. I say that the sentence should have been "I took a gift for my friend when I visited him". The words bring and take have directions associated with them. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, bring is used to denote motion toward the place of speaking. So when I say "I visited my friend", I'm not at my friend's place any more and so my friend's place is not the place of speaking. But some argue that more than the place of speaking, the context is what determines whether to use bring or take and make that as an excuse to use these two words interchangeably. I would say, if you are talking about here or come, use bring and if you are talking about there or go, then use take. But hey, as a friend of mine once said, why would any one listen to a foreigner talking about correct English?

Another usage that is very annoying is how people read fractions. I have heard many people read 6.23 as six point twenty three. I say that this is obviously wrong. It should actually be read six and twenty three hundredths but for clarity we spell out the numbers as six point two three. It is not twenty three because the place value of the two after the decimal point in the number is not twenty but two over a ten.

To wind up today's post, here is an interesting gift idea for Christmas - a cell phone with a lot of cool features and an LED that glows when the government is tapping your conversation. Thanks to Jay Leno for that one.

Merry Christmas.

A movie that made me angry

2005-12-19T09:36:00.000-06:00

It is a good movie, a little confusing in the beginning. At one point of time I wondered what the heck was going on. The movie made sense an hour later and ended up showing the truth to a certain extent. The amount of power that one country has over others and the way that country misuses those powers to make its lobbyists happy, the pathetic plight of immigrants in the Persian Gulf and the circumstances that lead to the creation of the so called "defenders of god" were all portrayed in this movie. You should know by now which movie am I talking about, if you don't you have not seen the movie yet. The movie made me angry because they showed the truth or at least what I believe is truth. Why do I believe that it is the truth? It is more out of intuition rather than any proof. After all we don't need proof for many things that we believe in, do we?

Capital Punishment in IPC

2005-11-01T09:54:00.000-06:00

India got it's new Chief Justice yesterday. Usually the appointment of a new CJI and the swearing in make little news in the media except for a headline in the news papers where more importance would be given to the dignitaries who attended the ceremony than what the CJI stands for, what his credentials are or how his resume looks. It was not much different this time either but I read one interesting fact about him that impressed me. He favors abolishment of capital punishment. I'm very pleased to see that India has some one for Chief Justice who shares the thought that people, like the President of India and others including me, uphold. I hope that he will be able to contribute to making this idea materialize and that dirty politics will not play down his efforts.

Bumper Sticker

2005-10-31T11:00:00.000-06:00

I'm not in a mood to write a good post but thought should write about the bumper sticker that I saw stuck on a car. It read "When Clinton lied no one died". Sometimes such simple truth makes one think about what's going on around us and what should we set our priorities as.

Let God sleep in you

2005-08-08T10:40:00.000-05:00

The homily this Sunday by the pastor of the church was quite interesting. While Fr. Z is usually very good at this art with a choice of words and flow of themes, yesterday's caught my attention with a different aspect. He narrated stories of two different people, one being himself, and mentioned how these two prayed to God. The truth is that we don't have to really spend any amount of time for prayer. It works out well because these days everyone is so busy that finding time for prayer is next to impossible. Fathers and mothers have so many things to take care of from kids' homework to paying bills and finishing off projects at work and finding some time to pray in the midst of all these is probably not in the agenda for many. Here are examples of how one could be busy and still pray to God.

Fr. Z used to study at a monastery near the foot of a hill which was very beautiful. He was of course busy and had a lot of things to do. However, he used to go to the top of the hill on a regular basis and just sit there and relax. On all these days he fell asleep almost immediately.

Then there is this woman, a very busy mother of four children, employed somewhere and also taking care of household chores. The only time that she gets to rest though is when her dear husband takes all four of her kids for a walk to the park with their dog. She gets in to the tub at home and lights some candles around and take a pleasantly warm bath.

these two are very normal forms of relaxation as anyone would agree. But, what these two were actually doing was to pray. Normally when we pray, we thank God for all that has happened in our lives till then and then pray for everyone and everything in our life, pray for peace on earth and harmony among nations, pray for the leaders of the Church and also governments and so on and so forth. In doing all these we are bombarding god with questions, requests and favors to name a few. But what these two people were doing was to let God relax or sleep with them. Have peace with God, not requesting but letting Him be with them, in their sleep and in their relaxation. Wouldn't that be a great thing to do?

Reactions to two terrorist attacks

2005-07-08T13:02:00.000-05:00

The world reacted with shock and anger to two terrorist attacks in the last two weeks. The first one being in India at the premises where the Babri Masjid once was. Security forces encountered gunmen and killed them before they could actually do much harm and second, the series of bomb blasts in London that killed around fifty people. The former reminds us of a lot of similar incidents, one being the attack on the Indian parliament and the latter reminds us of the attack on 9/11 and also the serial bomb blasts in Bombay (Mumbai) that killed hundreds.

What stands out though is the difference in the reactions to these incidents by people of different cultures. To the London blasts, the western world reacted with their support to the families of those affected and anger towards those responsible. Countries all through out Europe condemned the attack and some of them went to extent of flying their national flags half mast and organizing silent marches and so on. Tour de France observed a moment of silence at the beginning of the last round.

When the gun men tried to attack the Babri Masjid grounds, the nation reacted with anger and disapproval. But what is interesting though is that one political outfit, just one, took it too personally and played politics. They organized protests and a nation wide strike for this cause. Now, isn't this an attack on the entire nation and not just one community? Why would this outfit do that despite repeated calls by the prime minister not to play politics? When will Indians think India and not Hindu? In my opinion, it is high time and it is very important too.

Ambassador of Human Rights

2005-06-27T16:17:00.000-05:00

When I drive to Chicago during weekends, I drive alone and during the two and a half to three hour long drive one way, I don't miss this opportunity to think about various things like my life and future, what's happening in the world around me, my family and friends and so on and so forth. On one such drives I thought about all the atrocities done towards the weaker sections of humanity and I felt very sad. No one seems to really care about anything in the world other than personal interests. Countries that proclaimed to be advocates of human rights are violating them. What's ironic is that such countries are still finding fault with other countries.

Consider the US of A for example. The Abu-Ghraib prison abuse, the Guantanamo Bay prison where four out of five hundred have been tried so far in the last three years, the court verdict that said city officials can take away personal property for higher tax generating private investors to name a few are examples of instances where the system has simply failed to keep up what it was meant to. Aren't we too arrogant to send secretaries to various countries and ask them to better change to a democratic form of government where democracy is being mocked in our own soil?

A friend of mine argued that the last presidential election was fought on moral issues. Aren't these moral issues or have these been removed from the list that are applicable for a presidential race? People who never miss an opportunity to condemn abortion, euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research don't utter a word against capital punishment or gun violence. Aren't these moral issues? Why are we so interested in Iraq and not in Sudan or in Ethiopia or why were we never interested in Rwanda at any time at all? And what did we find in Iraq? Neither WMD nor oil for doing all that. I bet many right wing supporters are unhappy about the verdict on the ten commandments in courthouse issue but having a plaque with the commandments written on it doesn't do any good. Following them is what matters.

I wish I had better writing skills.

Gold - an investment?

2005-06-22T11:20:00.000-05:00

I don't think so. I saw pictures from the wedding of a friend of mine. The picture that struck me most was the one where he stands next to this glittering figure of gold and silk (the bride). No offense meant to my friend but I wonder if his wife will ever get to wear all that gold on another occasion in her life. I think it's time Indians came out of this concept of investing in gold. What good is it? I'm sure that real estate would be worth more than that for the same amount of money spent. All those thick necklaces, bracelets and anklets in gold can't be worn in public on any other occasion and will eventually be traded in for thinner, lighter and more "can be worn in public" ornaments later on at the cost of depreciation and resale value. I have seen this happening to all three of my sisters. Thanks to not being very rich and better senses, they did not have to trade in most of their jewelry. I think I will tell the woman that I marry (if at all) not to have so much of gold.

Once again, no offense meant to the person that I have referred to. This is just my thought.

What a weekend?

2005-06-20T09:57:00.000-05:00

It started with the company picnic. Even though every one complained about the changes in the picnic, it turned out to be a very good event. At least, according to me. The four of us and the Englishman ate together and my leg was being pulled all the time by none other than the Englishman. It was fun. It was time for a volley ball game after that. I was not sure if I would be able to play because of the two immunization shots (tetanus and the first dose of MMR) that I had taken earlier but I was alright and the game was fun.

Played tennis after work and had food at a Greek sandwich place. The garlic chicken sandwich and French Fries were so good. Watched Sideways as I wrote earlier. Saturday was disk golf time. It was fun because it was nice to hang out in the woods and playing with another guy who was as bad as I was. One of our disks fell into the stream twice and we stopped the second time.

I had almost forgotten the art of roller blading. Thanks to my decision not to go to Chicago this weekend, I could roller blade on both Saturday and Sunday though by myself. I told the shopkeeper that I have to get married because I felt bored roller blading alone and his reply was that after I get married my wife might probably throw my roller blades out of the window. A good piece of advise from a married man.

I watched "Motor Cycle Diaries" on Saturday. I did not know what inspired Che Guevara to do all that he did but now I do. A very good movie. The story of two men who, unlike in "Sideways" did meaningful things and turned out to be very popular men in their life. It was very good to know that there are people in the world who care about the atrocities being done to human beings and go on to do something about that. I admire those selfless people.

Be a loser and get away with it?

2005-06-18T17:39:00.000-05:00

I watched Sideways last night. What a movie? I wonder why was it nominated to the Academy Awards at all. Those who have seen the movie know what it is like and those who have not, well, what should I say? it is a movie that every man should watch and feel good about the fact that you can be a loser, cheat on your fiance and still get away with everything and only break your nose. I wish life was as easy as that.

A good movie for a change

2005-06-16T10:55:00.000-05:00

I watched "House of Sand and Fog" last night after a disappointing performance by the soft ball team against Spotted Cow (I think I should eat there once). The team that I cheered for lost pretty bad against them.

House of Sand and Fog was a good movie. I wonder why it didn't get the review it deserves. The story of an Iranian major (Ben Kingsley) who migrates to USA and works hard to make ends meet and buys a house, that was wrongfully taken from its owner (Jennifer Connelly), on auction because she did not pay business taxes that she never owed. Then comes Mr. Nice Guy who falls in love with the heroine and deserts his family of wife and two kids to help her and screws up things.

Though the ending is quite sad, Kingsley did a great performance and Connelly was also very good.

Amusing stories from India

2005-06-15T10:36:00.000-05:00

Today I read a news article on the Times of India that one of the "religiously fanatic" groups came up with a "Hindu centric" demand that to check the "unbridled" growth of Muslim population in India, Hindus should try hard and increase the Hindu population. According to them, any society with a bigger population has a greater influence on the world and also the equation between high population and unemployment is a myth. Kudos to people like these.

Also from India, a woman was told by a "council of community elders" that she should marry her father-in-law and have a mother-son relationship with her husband. The reason - she was raped by the father-in-law. Looks like elders are on the loose.

Fear of death?

2005-06-10T12:57:00.000-05:00

Interesting but I don't understand what fear of death is. Someone today said that she doesn't have the fear of death. I asked her how does she mean and the reply was that she lives now and then one day she will cease to and she doesn't care about what happens afterwards. According to me that is not not having fear of death, that is just not being worried about dying.

I spoke to Mo about it and her definition was some people know that they are going to die and don't have a problem where as some people freak out when they learn that they were going to die. Again, it is not because they are afraid of the dying process but they just don't want to die. You see that? When I started on explaining on the point that she is missing, she said that she doesn't want to talk about it any more.

Wedge on the other hand said that he has never contemplated on what fear of death is. Then he thought for a while and said that he wouldn't care if he knew he was going to die.

I infer that it is the feeling of "don't want to die" than anything else that people call fear of death.

I figured it out

2005-06-10T11:44:00.000-05:00

Hurray, I have a contributor to my blog besides myself. It is Ray. Even though I knew who it was right away, I admit that it took a few seconds for me to figure out why Ray chose to be Ray. Good job Ray. For those of you who wonder who Ray is, Ray is the same as the Beaver. From now on the Beaver will be called Ray. Hu rrayy!!

And Ray, I hope to see some comments too. I know that many of my posts are not worth debating or even commenting on but there is always the feel good factor.

Did I say that too soon?

2005-06-10T11:36:00.000-05:00

Yes, I did. My car, it was running smooth until last evening when the problem started occurring again. I have made up my mind. I'm buying a new car. I hope that I can drive that one without any problem for at least five years so that I can have some peace of mind.

What do I do with my car?

2005-06-09T11:05:00.000-05:00

As some of you know, I have been having problems with my car. My car shakes or vibrates violently when on idle. That is, when I approach a stop sign or a four-way intersection, it starts shaking and I normally end up shifting to neutral and wait for the signal to turn green before I drive normally again. A Mitsubishi dealer diagnosed the problem as a faulty EGR valve and so I had it ordered and replaced by another auto body shop but the problem still persisted. Tired of this happening often and after having discussions with others, I decided to buy a new car. I check out the Toyota Prius synergy drive hybrid car. It is a "cute" car which doesn't feel like one when you are inside and doesn't look like one either from outside. I liked it very much and decided to pay a down payment for one either this weekend or the Monday after that because, the car is usually not readily available with any dealer. The irony is that my car, the one that I have now, seems to want to run normally again. There is no weird shaking or vibration when I stop and the car runs smoother than ever. What do I do with it?

Another Roby Jose?

2005-06-08T17:18:00.000-05:00

I ran into the web site of the Brandywine zoo, specifically the fond memories section (http://www.brandywinezoo.org/fondmemories.html) and discovered that there is another Roby Jose in this world. May be there are more but to know that was amusing. He proposed to Betsy at the zoo in front of the tigers to marry him. Way to go Robyoh!!

Famous and infamous

2005-06-08T10:54:00.000-05:00

If you look at the top left hand corner of this blog, you will see a brief description about myself. A statement in that says that "I've been mostly famous among women and notorious among men". The beaver might not quite agree with this. To be honest the reality is that I've been liked by a few women and hated by a good number of men for various reasons, one of them being the fact that I was liked by some women. Blogger.com does not allow more than five hundred characters including spaces and so I couldn't write every thing that I wanted to.

Church to make Bollywood film

2005-06-08T10:43:00.000-05:00

I read this article on Times of India about a priest from the Delhi archdiocese making a movie. The movie is supposed to project AIDS awareness and communal harmony and is made with all the masala aspects of Indian cinema. Fr. Dominic Emmanuel, whose brain child the film is, says that there are more people in the cinemas than in the churches and so it is wise to reach out where you get the masses. I hope the movie makes an impact. The cast - Rati Agnihotri and Aryan Vaid.

I forgot my goggles

2005-06-08T10:23:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I started swimming lessons at the Riverplex. I was quite excited about it but it turned out to be a not so exciting event. The instructor, Katie, was on vacation and so Laura substituted her. Then came this other dude who did not have any students for the course that he was supposed to be taking care of and ended up giving instructions to three of us who knew some swimming. He was trying to teach us how to breath and kept saying that we did a great job when I knew for sure that I wasn't. Anyway, I will go on all Tuesdays and Thursdays because I paid money to enroll. I should remember to carry my goggles with me the next time though. And, the locker room was not that great either.

The EGR valve

2005-05-27T22:49:00.000-05:00

This is the second time I'm composing this post. I complained a lot in the previous version and I was paid for that. Here I am, typing a post again.

I anticipated the EGR valve to arrive at noon today, as I was told and hoped that it will be replaced and I will be able to drive up north to Palatine to spend the long weekend with my parents, sister and her family. One might think that I'm going to Palatine because it is a long weekend. The truth is, that is what I do on all weekends.

Anyway, the EGR valve did not arrive on time but instead the truck carrying the packet showed up at 2:45 pm. I was told that, the EGR valve can't be replaced today, not even tomorrow but only on Tuesday. I made a frantic effort to get it replaced by some one else but in vain. Most of the auto shops were either under-staffed or were booked until Tuesday. I had to take an appointment with one of them, the only one that promised to get the job done tomorrow by 1 pm.

Buying a pre-owned car has paid off not so well for me. I have spent about an eighth of the cost of the car already in repairs, maintenance and parts. Some people get lucky and get a good car even though it is pre-owned. "Pre-owned", what a name for a used car? "Second-hand" will not quite fit, I guess, because one never knows how many hands has the car gone through. Some times lessons are learnt the hard way and in my case, it turns out to be all the time. The next car that I buy, will certainly be a new one. At least, I myself will be responsible for all expenses on it and can't blame in on how the previous owner(s) used it before me.

Today, I said the word EGR valve about 4 times the number of times I have written it here.

The beaver said that I'm doing it for myself

2005-05-27T22:12:00.000-05:00

I spoke to the beaver after a long time for about 3 hours last night. It was a very good experience and we spoke about a lot of things, about both of us, people in our day to day life, work and so on. I mentioned to the beaver that I have been given a verbal approval from both my manager and also the HR manager for going to school again, how excited I was, how I looked forward to start going to school etcetera. After hearing from me why I wanted to do that and while discussing other things the beaver made the observation that I'm doing it for myself. It did not quite affect me at that point of time and later I thought "if not for myself, then for who else?" But today I thought more about it and I realized that it was true. The beaver made me think again.

I have developed an admiration for Jack Welch these days since I started reading "Winning". I liked the importance he gives to candor and differentiation and the analogies that he draws between these aspects of business and other walks of life. Will he turn out to be my hero? Time will tell.

But it also happens to be achievable

2005-05-25T23:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, winning is nuanced and complex, not to mention brutally hard. But it also happens to be achievable. You can win. But to do that, you need to know what makes winning happen.

- Jack Welch in his best seller book "Winning"

Today was a remarkably good day. I started reading "Winning", played a game of tennis with a bunch of guys who go to Bradley and started my own blog and this is the second post of the day. I intend to continue with posting, reading the book and play tennis.

Do all conservatives like war?

2005-05-25T15:16:00.000-05:00

I started reading "How to Talk to a Liberal (if you must)" by Ann Coulter a couple of weeks ago. I should be honest and say that it was the way she showed up on the "Tonight's Show" a few days back that made me interested in reading her book. After reading a few pages I couldn't stand her any more.

She says that we should attack all the "terrorist countries" and kill the leaders there and convert them to Christianity. I have a problem with that attitude. The Christianity that I know and believe in spreads the message of peace and not war. The question is do we have to do this to the (terrorist) countries that America supports in the name of the "War on Terror" also?

One need not be a republican or support war or capital punishment or not support gun control to be a conservative. My views on the book can not be listed here because they will go on for ever but I decided not to read the book further. I think I have better books to read than books that portray biased opinions.