Thursday, July 21, 2005

singara chennai

I have always grown to believe the best place to live in the entire world is Madras(well, ok, now chennai). The only other place I would temporarily live is Paris, France. Even here, I am always looking for a city that gives the "Madras" feeling. I have found that only in Austin, TX. When I say "Madras" feeling, I don't mean tons of Indians, yapping around AND yada yada. I mean a city, neither too big that you are eternally lost (given how sharp I am with directions), nor too small that on a romantic drive, you are already out of city limits. A place that has a little of this, a little of that, a dash of east and west influence, a congregation of youthful color and elderly wisdom.

People have always scorned, scoffed at me when I have commented or mentioned that I am moving back to Madras in 4 to 5 years.This explains
ok boss calling, be back in a bit

people

normally meet in between work.
As a consultant, one works in between meetings!

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

isn't it strange?

that there isn't any coverage of the visit of our PM? None of the nationals here in the US seem to talk about it as much as I think it should. I mean, cmon! do they even realize how much they are dependent on India? When they can send ething offshore and cut costs, can't they pay attention when the most important decision maker of that country comes over? Have they any idea how much India can impact their economy by simple change to policies? and heck, MS was talking to Infosys..God save!

bad workman..

blames his tools? Coming to think of it, I don't quite agree with that saying. I find that:
1. a sharper pencil means more precise thoughts and writing
2. a finer pen gives better flow
A bad tool results in a so-so work, even if the workman is the best pro around.
ok, tons of work today..searching for my sharp tools..

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

butter fingers!

Been dropping everything since morning. I realize the more I try to be careful, the more buttery my fingers get. I have always annoyed my roomies while trying to be quiet in the morning. I would carefully remove the coffee mug from the cupboard and thatz exactly when it would hit more mugs and all of them would fall on the microwave. The microwave would have had a plate sitting on top of it, carefully balanced and with the force of the mugs falling, this plate would tilt over and land crash on the floor while at the same time, the cereal bowl in the microwave would have completed its tenure and would be screaming. Then, I face the glare from my half asleep, half awake, 1.25 drowsy eyed roomies..This morning, something different, I dropped my power cord on my feet (ouch!), dropped the soap while showering, dropped the towel into the dustbin(!), dropped my hotel card while entering the elevator (a flat one as flat as it can get to make picking it up quite an experience), dropped my sun glasses. Thanking the heavens for reaching work safely, I head out for my breakfast, smiling and nodding g'morns, stylishly picked up cereals, filled my cup with granola..and clash, clatter, platter,sppillll..the entire cafeteria was staring at me..hehehee, wonder what more I am going to drop for today..it has just started!

Monday, July 18, 2005

guess what I found?

While digging through my old files in my flash drive, see what I found:

"and there is one last hope. One last time when I meet him, I will see in his eyes the truth. Was it hatred or simple love that was so much responsible for everything that happened. Was it ego or confusion that can be blamed for every pause in his words, every silence in my response. Was I reading too much or missing too much? Why can't I simply put my pen down and call him a friend, dust my hands and forget this relationship?"

I am trying to think why I wrote this, which song inspired me or was it someone?...for now, I am just smiling at it :).

Sunday, July 17, 2005

weekend whoosh

It seems like my flight landed in ATL about 30 mins ago. Got out and quickly picked my luggage, thatz all I seem to remember..and voila! it seems it is sunday today (or so they tell me) and in another few hours, I will again hear the announcement for my flight! Wow! what happened to this weekend..it jus seemed to whoosh by!

Monday, July 11, 2005

Am I reading too much?

I always felt some kind of link with France, with Paris, with French, the language, the people, food..and I get signs everywhere, I am not joking when I say this. Just few things that I remember (from the bunch of other signs that I got):
1. I accepted offer with a company that is headquartered in Paris, France. When asked for locational preference, guess what my choice was. My recruiter gave me a smug and asked me to try this preference in about a year. (Shh..I am still hoping)
2. I jump into the flight to land up in Dallas for my first day with the company. I was so lost in my thots I dint hear the gentleman next to me say something. Don't ask me why, but I still say "Pardon" instead of a normal "excuse me" or "I am sorry". No guesses..yes, he was french. Had worked for my company some years ago.
3. I take the cab to my first project, no guesses, to cut long story short..cab man french, family in france..talked abt just yeah..france
4. Scene cut to SFO. Looking for some place to eat on a strange saturday afternoon..couldn't find regular places to eat. Just stopped by a bakery, well yes, french:Boudin or Boudini. I was told that the girl behind the counter is a cute one, but nah, dint see her. Instead met this lady, well yes, from france. Pleasantaries..ah oui, en francais..eh bon, a happy meal for me.
5. Watching this TV series for the first time ever. Have hrd abt it a lot, never sat down and watched it. Dropped my bag, flicked the tv on and the story line is simple: Girl goes out with a boy who is an artist. No questions, simply strange..guy asks girl to move with him to Paris! Yes, Paris..describes Paris in detail..the petite avenues, grands boulevards, quiet/noisy cafes..She is confused..has her life in NYC. But what are we talking abt here..Paris! she has to say a yes! That makes it a nice serial, doesn't it? But hey! why screen this episode now?
But I guess, this are the things that I remember, besides scores of other signs, prolly too inane to mention them or so inane that I just see them and smile and forget..oh, like when I was travelling between NJ and NYC, I had french people around me, people reading 'Places to Visit in Paris', 'Quick book of French' and so on..
What is with me?

Friday, July 08, 2005

whack!wake up!

Yeah! thatz how I feel about life right now. Last one week was a roller coaster..crests and troughs, low/high points that seem to last forever..one tight slap! (like they say in MTV :))..like a rude awakening from a slumber..just learning, growing, beginning to feel that I am an adult or atleast growing to be one, trying to be one. I smile to myself at times. Hard to blv that stories you hear about and feel sorry for actually could happen to you! Just learning, just learning..gotta move on, no matter how it seems. Still wondering if whatever is happening is a fabric of dream or a drape of reality

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

so long..and why do I keep saying this again?

Hahahaha, I took an earlier flight out of ATL to reach my destination well in time before midnight, but guess what happened? We were sitting in the aircraft, for no specific reason till about 10.00 pm! But I guess everything happens for some other higher purpose, I would have missed my parents call, had I been on air :) (sounds cool eh?). While I was sitting idly, my brain ticked in this angle:
You know what would be a great idea? Teach airlines employees another language. While the world is going more global, it is short sightedness to expect all travellers to speak one language. The very essense of the word "traveller" wouild be lost in some sense. I know flight attendants and crew on international flights speak multiple languages, but there is sure a huge advantage if domestic carriers were also equipped with help in more than one. How to decide which language? Simple, stats. The obvious ones: Most spoken language among travellers, periods of travel, favorite destinations..yada yada..It is surprising how inspite of the big % of Spanish speakers in the US, the % of Spanish spoken by an average American is really small (just trying to sound hep, basically, Americans don't speak Spanish as much as they should). Start training crew on flight to famous tourist spots on a language highly spoken by travellers..
I know in India when one travels by simple-less punctual-Indian Railways, all announcements are made in three languages : the local, English and the most spoken (Hindi). Interesting that airlines haven't thought about this. I remember reading an article where some carrier saved millions of $ by removing one olive from the business class lunch (3 became 2). Make that one and teach a language :)