My Tryst With Gun

I was looking to buy a cheap top of the line laptop. Cheap and top of the line sums up every Indian’s disconnect between reality and want. We always want the best but do not want to spend the money that quality commands. In the ideal world of an Indian guy, Mac books should be sold in Dollar Tree. When I set out to buy a laptop, obviously I stated with the best possible specifications. I wanted a 12- or 13-inch laptop. Should definitely have SSD. Processor has to be i7 or i5. Even though I will use it just to watch movies or browse cheap deals. With these specification in mind, I set out to look for a laptop. I found a lot of them. From mac books to Dell XPS to HP elite. These were really good laptops. But the only issue was that they were expensive. My determined Indian mind dismissed these options labelling them as glorifying examples of crony capitalism of USA. How convenient of me. Humans (read it as Indians) always come up with such convenient incorrect baseless generalization when the reality is far from the bubble that we have built in our heads.

 I started looking at other avenues. Undeterred and oblivious of the realities, I was adamant to find a laptop with specifications wort 1000 dollars that can be bought in mere 300 dollars.

Beard and Brown Skin

I love to grow a beard. A good, well-grown and groomed beard looks cool. I can attribute two reasons for my love for a beard. One, I am lazy to shave and two, I really like beards. Ok, enough drooling over beards. I feel adding an Indian perspective to anything really makes it interesting. I hope that this is an interesting take on beards by an Indian guy living in the USA. The key words to heed here are “Indian guy”, “beard” and the mighty, but strange, USA.

About a year and half back, I grew a beard and I liked it. At least, I thought it looked cool. Then, things started to happen in my life that I had never experienced before. I started getting attention from completely strange, unrelated, unknown people. Random people would come up to me and compliment my beard. What really made those compliments interesting was the places where I got them.

A few compliments made me happy. Like the receptionist at my work. I have been coming to the same office for almost a year and she never noticed me. Then beard. I mean, a weird thing happened. She noticed me

Things Indians Do in USA - Frugality

One thing that stands out and perhaps unites all Indians living in USA is frugality. It cuts through the entire social barriers and divide. Irrespective of what gender, religion, looks, color an Indian belongs to, frugality in USA really unifies us as one. It gives us a sense of pride and achievement. We squeeze in every penny. We have been doing it for so long that it has become part of our DNA. I am sure, by now even few of our genes have altered itself as part of human (Indian) evolution.

First reaction of a marine on hearing the word “go” would be to grab his gun. For us, the first and natural reaction is Groupon. We do not do buy anything in spur of moment. We plan it, meticulously. Like a military operation. It does not matter how much, every penny counts. We can spend hours looking for ways to get five dollar off on a five-dollar purchase. It is not easy. It is a tight walk between being a cheapskate and profligate.

You name a service or a category and we have saved money on it.

Netflix Subscription: Four or five family shares the same subscription. Making it almost free. As if you bought the subscription from Dollar tree.

MONSOON,UMBRELLAS and GENDER DIVIDE

Monsoons are one of the most awaited phenomena bestowed upon us by the benevolent almighty. Rains do a lot of good to the mankind. It is a boon to farming, replenishes water table and water bodies. It provides much awaited respite from the soaring mercury. The entire flora and fauna (natural and man-made) gives out a very fresh, washed and vibrant vibes. Raindrops falling on the parched earth to quench its eternal thirst is quiet an emotional and spectacular sight to watch. Intermingling of thirsty earth and restless rain drops is like two passionate lovers reuniting after a long agonizing separation forced upon themselves by the destiny, with a hope of never separating again and ignorant of the fact that every meeting culminates into a separation.
Love prevails all around riding high on the mood and sentiments marked by marriage of thirsty mother earth and rain drops with purity at heart. Feeling of togetherness and reunion becomes the mood of the season. But this feeling of togetherness suffers every time it rains in my office.


Large and beautiful umbrellas have been provided by my office management to facilitate the journey of their employees from their respective buildings to the main exit without getting wet. But we mortal souls, so engrossed in the utilitarian aspect of life, fail miserably to understand the real purpose of such facility (I guess even the office management is ignorant about the same). These benevolent

SOFTWARE ENGINEER and COMPANY TRANSPORT

For most of the software engineers, irrespective of their designation, salary package and sex have commuted in company’s cab or bus (company transportation). You must be wondering, what is so significant about these travels, people across the globe do that. The remarkable things that make these journeys so interesting are the way software professionals conduct themselves during these bus rides. The range of activities that are performed on these travels is worth taking notice of.

Designated pick up points are where this journey starts. Catering to prayers and wishes for reaching these points on time is one of the most important activity that keeps our almighty occupied early in the morning. The amount of traffic these prayers generate can easily bring down any powerful server. For the winners, I mean those who manage to reach the pickup points on time, the joy is boundless. This feeling of victory can certainly dwarf the feeling that you get after coming first in NAT GEO’s Amazing race.



The scene at these pickup points, though short lived is quiet interesting. You can find software professionals forming small groups and talking among themselves. The group formation is basically determined by the number of years of experience one has (birds of same feather flock together).Group comprising of senior professionals usually talk about the news paper headlines, politics and state of country’s economy. The passion and authority with which they talk can give

LIFE is a BUFFET - Enjoy every byte you take

Food, I am a great admirer, consumer and promoter of food (self proclaimed). Variety is what turns me on. So naturally buffets are something that makes me experience bliss. Eating and admiring is just one aspect of loving buffets. Drawing analogy about life is another (rather a new aspect). Sounds absurd, just grab your glass of beer, sit back, relax and let me take you to the lanes less treaded to bring out the amazing learning that buffets have to offer about life.

Buffets are famous for the number of delicacies that are on offer to pacify your tantalizing taste buds (undoubtedly the best thing about buffets). Various impeccable aromas oozing out from the numerous dishes of different vivid color and texture swirls around and cast an unbreakable spell on the foodies who are ever eager to munch on these delicacies with grace and respect. Likewise life also offers you with differ colors and aromas. At times its sorrow at times it is happiness. Whatever be the flavor, you (the foodie) should always be ready to embrace them with respect, dignity and grace. I think colorful life is what makes it for a whole sum life.

The sheer number of delicacies in a buffet can be intimidating or rather inviting and confusing. The untamable heart, ever tantalizing tongue and bubbling stomach with gastronomical juices pushes you hard to relish everything at once. If you give into such formidable internal desires all you will be left with is an overloaded plate and intermingling gravies, losing their identity and charm. Such situations manifest into wastage of food, devastated taste buds and a hunger quenched but unsatisfied you. We

The Turning Tide – BIHAR losing its edge

Scams, Corruption, Lawlessness etc are few of the terms that in most situations (if not all) were used to highlight the state of Bihar. Bihar has always been in news for all wrong reasons. But situation seems to be changing. It would be premature to draw any conclusion at this point of time, but certainly things are changing. What is really shocking is the fact that states that enjoy the tag of being pro development and forward looking have been the breeding ground for some of the most infamous scams of year 2010.

States like Karnataka and Maharashtra were the in forefront of scams reported in 2010.Even the infamous 2G scandal which topped the charts of scams last year had absolutely no connection with Bihar. I really wonder, Bihar which has such a glorious legacy of being in the forefront of all such activities has suddenly lost edge. Bihar’s inability to give this country any major scams in past few years can be a subject of case study in any of the prestigious management institutes.
News like Husk Power generation, peaceful and fair elections in Bihar and magical growth figures have contributed further to strip this state (to a certain extent) from the tag of being a corrupt and scandalous state. On a lighter note, if the same situation persists for some more time, Bihar will face a serious identity crisis.