The Indian Student Pledge

Long time ago, back in school, we used to recite this every single morning. It became a habit, a routine. But this morning, out of nowhere, I recollected it and Girija and I could not remember the full text. Immediately, we looked up on the internet and found this fond pledge, which I never want to forget.

India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters.

I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.

I shall always strive to be worthy of it.

I shall give my parents, teachers and all elders, respect, and treat everyone with courtesy.

To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion.

In their well being and prosperity alone, lies my happiness.

JAI HIND
Written by the great Swami Vivekananda, I never thought I will be staying in the same city where he made the biggest international speech of his lifetime.

Complain, we do!

I am busy - I complain.
I don't have work - I complain.

Hmmm... interesting, isn't it? Interesting, my foot! I say "disgusting". Life can never be just right! We find ways to complain and make our life stressful that we forget to enjoy how involved we are with an activity or how much time we have on hands to do something which means a lot to us. Complain, we do!

So much so that it becomes a cliche. So much so that the other person is bored to listen to us. So much so that we procrastinate things. So much so that we create our own mental blocks to under perform.

I say let's get a move on and go finish those unfinished tasks, those things which matter to us. Those things of which we are scared in life. Those things that we wanted to save for another day. Life is limited, make the most of it. If you are busy, then how did we get the time to complain? If we have all the time in the world, why do we complain? We don't count our blessings. But yes, complain, we do!

Grit and Determination

Yesterday, I saw a football game between Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots. Two great teams and two great quarterbacks. Both have a great record this year in the NFL and going into this game, I could not have guessed who would win. Looking at the colts record I thought that they might win the match. But two quarters into the game and I felt that the colts were slightly underprepared for this match. But as with many great teams and great players, these guys never gave up. They were trailing by 14 points in the last quarter and went on to win the game 35-34 in the dying moments of the game! Such was their determination to win and their never give up attitude that they continued to grind and eat away at the Patriot's lead.

Only if there were more people who could learn from it!

Telugu Associations

When I had not stepped out of India, if someone had told me that America was a land full of Indians, I would have laughed at them. I had always thought that it was a country with a few hundred thousand Indians spread across the country. That was my impression until I came to Chicago, my first point of entry in the US. I could see that this country had a very high mix of people from all continents, races and religions. And Indians were all over! There were so many Telugu people in the school to which Girija went that I felt as if I had come to Hyderabad or any other city in Andhra. They were all nice and caring people, but this was not how I had pictured America to be. As I took my time to adjust, I realized that these people were necessary to hang out with because they were the only link to what we spoke back home and what we did. We went out to parties together, watched movies, went on long drives and even shared the same tastes. We had pretty much formed a group of our own that we did not want anyone else's company.

Then slowly, as time passed, we got introduced to more and more Indians, many of whom were Telugu. Some were long lost friends and people whom we met on chance. Some were new acquaintances. But it was all good. Then one fine day, we were introduced to a family who were deep into cultural activities. That was when we got to know about some Telugu Associations like TANA, TTA, TAGC, CTA, ATA, TANTEX, BATA that catered to Telugu people within America. We had heard of some of them, but never did we know about them in detail. And once we got to know about them, we did not want to hear anymore.

One would believe that politics and lobbying would happen only in India. But we could not digest that there was not much of a difference in the way some of the things were run here. Infighting, bickering, politics - I was surprised that all the dirt from Indian politics was carried over here too. Event slots are debatable most of the time as it defies logic. Good programmes and artistes get raw deal, people tend to become arrogant and thick skinned. So much so that, people like me would be happy to just participate and turn a blind eye to what is happening with respect to the association. Recently a new association was formed as well due to a fall out with the existing associations.

If such things happen, the very purpose of why these associations came in to existence is defeated. Every family, neighborhood and region will come up with their own association and the oneness of the community will be lost.

The Train

While I wrote the below when I was on the train, I got time to upload it only today

Train journeys are one of the best that I can think of any day. Better than the bus, the car or even the flight. Time does not matter when travelling. Place does not matter too, although it does to a little extent. I am on a train to Naperville (Route 59) right now where I will be getting down to go to a Telugu drama practice. I am playing the role of Indra, a mythological God who ruled Swargalokam. It will be the first time that I will be acting in a pauranika naatakam (mythological drama). While the experience is rich, it requires a lot of preparation and hardwork.

It takes about an hour on the train from Union Station Chicago to Route 59 on a weekend. Adding the time it takes to reach Union Station and from Route 59 to the venue, the total journey is about 2 hrs. Yet, Girija and I have made several trips this year to participate in various events or just to pay friends a visit. It can be quite painful sometimes because it takes away your entire day from you. But then such experiences dont come knocking everyday at your doorstep. And the travel itself becomes quite beautiful with vibrant people all around.

Yesterday, there was a girl seated in front of me who had gotten onto the train just in time, but could not buy her ticket at the counter. So she paid an extra 2 dollars to buy it on the train. It reminded me of myself - the last minute man. I would usually catch the train running mostly just as the doors would close. Sometimes it is fun to watch game goers climb on to the train and make a lot of noise. Every time you get onto a train, you find different stories, meet different people and pretty much see a reflection of yourself in more than one person. That is the kind of atmosphere that the train has.

Then, compare that to a bus or a flight where every person either sleeps as soon as they board or at the max speak to the person next to them. The degree of freedom to move around is just not there. Moreover, if you get stuck in traffic, it is even more painful waiting there in the bus. Indian train travels, especially those in the second class (3-tier sleeper), are the best that I can think of. They cannot be compared with any other kind of travel on this world. That's better than a facebook, orkut, a flight, a bus or any other socializing place. To me, that provides the most vibrant way to travel from one city to another. People make friends in a very short period of time and you never know what surprises are in store. Second class travel is so famous and fondly remembered for the guys selling pallis (peanuts), samosas, Idlis, omelettes, dosas,ummm...just yummm! Thinking back of even the beggars and eunuchs evokes a faint smile. I could go on with stories of my travels on the train while I was in India, but it would need to be split like a TV serial. So, for this time I will not go in to that detail.

I would be getting down in a few mins and therefore I have to close my laptop now. Bye for now!

Beer Vs Biryani

What-a-tension-filled-match!

The first two editions of the IPL have brought an Australian captain and an Indian captain face to face. While it was Warne and Dhoni last year, it is Gili and Jumbo.

My heart is racing as I witnesss an absolute thriller. Two teams who were down in the dust had something to prove this year and how they have done! There is absolutely no regrets for the losing team for both the teams have played as champions. The intensity never dipped, the shoulders never drooped and the enthusiasm has been ecstatic!

Kudos to Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore!

Tied Up at work

Like a prisoner looking at the outer world, thinking deeply about the day of his release, there lay my ties in the closet. More than two dozen of them! Yes, my fondness of ties does not die down and I keep collecting them. Of course, in the last couple of years I have not added considerably many more to my wardrobe, but every time I pass by a rack of ties, my mind invariably does the math and finally the brain wins over the heart. As most of my other IT colleagues in the US, I have not had many occasions to bring these valued possessions into broad daylight. They remain locked up in some corner of the closet, taken out only when I need to rearrange my wardrobe. My wife's graduation and a night time boat cruise were the only two times when I could tie that piece of cloth around my neck, and it felt so good - like IV fluids being given to a sick man. :-)

And so, when day before yesterday, Suneel (colleague at work) said to me that he had several ties at home and that he was raring to wear them, I happily looked at him and readily agreed to start wearing a tie to office. So, finally I had company to show off my prized ties at work place! So casual is the dress culture that even the EDs wear jeans Monday through Friday. It was once my dream to come to work in jeans every single day of the week, but then when you do it continuously over prolonged periods of time, you get an overdose. And I decided that it was time to go back to wearing tie to work.

I knew that people in the office would stare at us, but I didnt know that they would stare the whole day. Every single person came up and asked if there was something special. Back in Infosys India, it was so common place to wear a tie to office and here I felt so conscious wearing one. I could not stop thinking about it even after I came home. Even Girija was smiling looking at a different me. But despite all this, there was some extra confidence in me. It was as if, someone said to me that wearing a tie would make me less vulnerable at office. One stylish piece of cloth can make so much difference to your overall look.

The next thing? Wearing a tie to office everyday from Mon-Thu. Let's leave Fridays as dress down days ;-)