ExperienceAmerica

Freeways

2009-02-27T19:26:00.000-08:00

Freeways, American highways. Are highways really at some elevation? I suppose not. The word freeway is true to its meaning, no interfering traffic lights except the exit and entrance ramp.

Americans drive on the right side of the road with driver seat on the left. Hence the left most lane is for fast moving vehicles and for overtaking as well. In the state of California the left lane is known as HOV or carpool lane. HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lane is meant for vehicles having two or more passengers.

The right most lane is for slow moving trucks. I recall one of our acquaintance’s comment, “Goonda Truck”, which aptly describes these gigantic container trucks. In fact all trucks are pulling containers, maybe it is easier to dump containers in warehouse and ports, rather than loading and unloading goods in the body of the truck.

The trucks have speed limit of fifty five miles per hour on freeways while cars can drive up to seventy miles per hour. All measurements are totally different. It will require a separate blog post to write about it.

At successive intervals, sign boards flash speed limit and also mention radar enforced or aircraft enforced. Sometimes I do notice helicopter hovering over freeway, may be it is measuring speed of vehicles moving down under. But it always amazes me how speed is measured of fast moving objects, at a particular instance. I have still to learn how exactly laser gun works.

Some times one does find a highway patrol cop issuing a ticket (chalaan) for over-speeding and other traffic violations. One more thing, drink and driving is called DUI, driving under the influence.

The interstate highways are well numbered. Those running north-south are odd numbers, while even number freeways run east-west. Here the things are so very straightforward. The mantra is K.I.S.S. Keep it simply stupid. The street addresses also follow some sort of same pattern. On one side of the street are even numbers while on the other side are odd number addresses. It makes sense to me and easier to find new locations, be it office, shop or house.

Rest area is a good concept along the freeway, for travelers to take a break during long drives. Most of the rest areas have gas station, food joints and motels too for overnight stay. All signposts come far ahead to plan the exit. If the oncoming rest area is five miles ahead and next further away, say after forty miles. Signpost will mention both, for you to decide and take the exit accordingly.

Coined telephone boxes are found all along. So it can well be concluded freeways were built prior to the advent of cell phones. There is a fine of $1000 for littering around.

No street lighting, no lamp-post except the fluorescent reflectors all along the freeway. Driving without headlights is simply not possible during night. If there is a dark patch because of mountain range; it forewarns to turn on the headlight during the day as well.

Behind trucks you’ll find drivers wanted and also how I am driving today. It is a subtle approach for reporting bad drivers.

I got the opportunity to travel extensively in Unites States. It is fun and entertaining, but only up to three hundred miles or so. Long journeys tend to be tiring be it anywhere in the world, any mode of transport.

Echoes

2009-02-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

Danielle Steel is a master story teller; blending facts and fiction modestly. As the story unfolds the incidences seem happening right in front of your eyes. Echoes gives a vivid description of society under the Nazi regime.

The story plot is well stretched from pre to post World War II era. It is really unnerving to read about holocaust and the Hitler’s atrocities on Jews. The author seems to do a thorough research, crucial fact findings before weaving the story line.

It is love at first sight for Beatrice, a Jewish beauty from affluent German family. She falls in love with a French Christian gentleman while vacationing in Switzerland. Their union is not accepted by either family but they start life together in Switzerland, in penury amidst all hardship.

It is really heart rending to read Beata’s futile attempts to unite with family, once back in Germany, a widow with two daughters. Her parents had performed Shiva, proclaiming her dead; the day she leaves to marry a Christian.

Reading the word Shiva in Jewish-German context rings a bell. Researching further I found the ancient Aryans spread in Iran, North India and Germany. Maybe because of race factor some similarity, like Swastika symbol. Reading contemporary fiction involves a lot of default cross culture learning.

When the war horrors start engulfing the Jews in Germany; Beata’s parents and siblings are not spared. Jews are hand picked and sent to Nazi death camps.

Beata had a peaceful life for a while, under the mask of Christianity. Soon her past echoes, her Jewish roots come to light and she is also chucked out of her house. Amadea, her daughter, unaware of half Jewish parentage, was in the making of Carmelita nun. The convent did not come for her rescue either, as her roots echo. Soon she was out of the convent, in hiding, struggling for survival.

The story has few broken links, once the story catches up with Amadea as the main character; nothing is mentioned about mother Beata, the lead character, on which the story builds up. Maybe the author tried to make the long story short and left for the readers to presume that death was inevitable in Nazi camps.

Amadea’s story takes a u-turn on her escape from one of the Nazi camp. She reaches countryside France, after facing near death situation, on several occasions. Here she becomes part of French resistance squad and meets the British secret agent, Colonel Montgomery, doing daring missions together. In the end she settles with him in Britain along with a brood of Jewish orphans whom the colonel had rescued and eventually adopted.

I read quite a lot Danielle Steel. I personally like her way of story crafting. Her novels are good casual read, most of them best sellers. Her official website and blog reveal more about her. She publishes three books in a year, writing several simultaneously. It takes her about two to three years to complete one novel. A lot of hard work, indeed!!

Dippin’ Dots

2009-02-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Date - 02/07/2009
Place - Village Mall, Orange, CA.

We feel thirsty, start looking for something to drink in the food court. I read Ice Cream and decide to have one. We had to quench thirst so ordered a lemon sherbet.

Lemon Lime Sherbet

Lemon sherbet appears more like a green and yellow thermocol packing pops. After seeing the first cup, I changed the order, asking for some fluid, to beat the thirst. The little miss attending us, points toward a picture of float, I agree convinced by the picture.

She puts vanilla dots in a tall cup, and then adds some coke and tops with dots, all floating over coke fizz. Sherbet and Dot Float tastes fine, but still felt wacky. Reached home, searched on internet what exactly I had in the name of ice- cream.
My research findings from dippindot.com

In 1988, Dippin' Dots Founder and Chairman Curt Jones changed the way the world enjoys ice cream. Jones, a microbiologist, pioneered the process of cryogenic encapsulation...a scientific way of saying he used super-cold freezing methods to make little beads of ice cream. Not only were the ice cream beads delicious and fun to eat, Jones knew that flash-freezing the ice cream ingredients would lock in flavor and freshness.

So what exactly are Dippin' Dots? Actually, it's fun to watch "first-timers" expressions when they take their first bite. After overcoming the sight of their ice cream beads "pouring" into a cup there's the look of amazement that ice cream can be "tingly and almost crunchy". When the smooth, creamy ice cream begins to melt in their mouth...a fan is born! It's truly a treat for kids of all ages. And finally, to answer the question, Dippin' Dots are made from fresh dairy ingredients flavored with fun, fruity, enticing and even exotic flavors The mixture is frozen almost instantly in liquid nitrogen, a common element in the atmosphere used commercially for flash freezing.

Showbiz India

2009-02-07T21:06:00.000-08:00

*I request for a song online.

*A one hour long South Asian, primarily bollywood entertainment Showbiz India is generous enough to accept my request and air the song on Feb 7th.

*Prior to each song, the anchor announces the requester’s name and location, followed by greetings from the star in the song. Our very own Sanju baba says, “Hi, I am Sanjay Dutt and you are watching Showbiz India”.

*My friend is watching it in San Francisco.

*The song and phone starts ringing almost simultaneously. Dear friend is taken by surprise and seems excited as well. All seems unbelievable, though I did get a confirmation mail from showbiz team, accepting the request a day before.

The song I requested is Pal Pal from Lage Raho Munna Bhai. It is version two of old Cliff Richard song, Theme for a dream. It remains one of my favorites since I first heard almost over two decades back. The black and white video is available on YouTube, young Cliff performing on stage. A must watch, for sure you’ll like the lyrics and love the tune.

Gift

2009-01-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

It is one of the first few raw writings of mine, much before I learned the nuances of online writing. This article remains my favorite and inspiration as well.

The day I submitted and till date it is rated#1. The reason I presume is sheer truthfulness of the content. It is a piece of writing straight from my heart without an iota of fiction or internet research.

The best electronic gift I ever got

A computer with internet connection is an awesome gift, the best gift I ever got. When I came to United States, initially everything from soaring skyscrapers to fast cars on freeways was all shock and awe for me, but as days passed by, life became routine and quite monotonous. Of and on I used to check emails on my husband's computer, squeezing between his tight work schedules.

It was then my husband realized my loneliness and gifted a laptop, for my exclusive use. Earlier I was not much tech savvy, but over a period of time I became a computer freak. Now its about three years and laptop is my lifeline. It has been a blessing in disguise. Apart from being in touch with friends and family through emails, I can store and share my digital photos too; it serves many other purpose as well.

The laptop really made life easier for me, in pursuing my hobbies, like listening to music, watching movies, reading books, cooking. World Wide Web, as www stands for, has wealth of information; it just needs to be explored. I listen to songs online and if one spends few cents the songs can be downloaded as well, same holds true for movies and books. From Net Banking to get an eticket for a flight the benefits of internet are immense. I have really become net addict, now my day begins and ends working on my laptop.

I presume everyone will agree that Internet ready computer, indeed, is a very useful device in today’s information age and Internet itself is a great invention of all times.

http://www.helium.com/items/732628-the-best-electronic-gift-i-ever-got

Namaste America

2009-01-26T11:01:00.000-08:00

On a lazy Saturday morning (2006, Stamford, Connecticut), I get a call from one of my friend to switch on the television and browse the local channel. I followed the instructions and to my delight, bollywood music starts ringing in my ears.

Since then I have become ardent fan of Namaste America, a one hour infotainment each weekend. I am fortunate enough to get the broadcast along with regular cable connection, wherever we have been located.

It is a good mix of latest bollywood music, movie reviews, DVD releases and news from the Indian sub-continent. The most interesting part is behind the scene interviews like making of movies or making of a particular movie song or interview with bollywood stars who now more often premier their movies either in New York or Los Angeles.

It is an interactive program, one can online request for a song or a shoutout. A shoutout is a brief message for loved ones on his/her birthday or anniversary, read aloud by the anchor during the show. Here advertisements are called messages hence shoutout is used for, what we would call a message in plain English.

The advertisements are limited to that of two insurance companies, Nationwide and Farmers, of which most Indians are either customers or agents and of course Wal-Mart, the low price leader.

However much I read online Indian news, bollywood gossip and listen to songs and watch videos on youtube but the television program has altogether a different aura. It summarizes and presents bollywood and India in a nutshell. I can say with conviction, television programs are here to stay despite internet tsunami.

Forrest Gump

2009-01-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

A post on fifteen year old movie seems outdated, when Indian film fraternity is going gaga over slumdog millionaire. There are valid reasons too, AR Rahman winning the golden globe, the Indian music with Rahman flavor getting international recognition, indeed an achievement…now back to Forrest Gump.(as I need to watch the movie first, before giving any further inputs)

Though I read the book and watched the movie long time back. I recall it today after reading a news snippet; Aamir Khan will remake Forrest Gump in Hindi. Of late, Aamir has got the latest bug of remaking Hollywood movies. After success of Ghajini, remake of Tamil movie which itself was an adaptation of Memento. All’s well that ends well.

The book, Forrest Gump, by Winston Groom is a good read and academy award winning movie is also awe-inspiring with Tom Hanks at his best performance. The story is about a boy with below average IQ, and how he struggles in life and slowly achieves everything; and wins over Jennie, his childhood sweetheart.

Prior to watching movie and reading book, I dined at Bubba Gump, a seafood restaurant, with specialty in shrimp. The prawns are known as shrimp here and are bigger in size, the big shrimps are sold as jumbo shrimps. The international restaurant chain is inspired from the movie.

The storyline portrays, Bubba, a friend of Forrest Gump, while Gump is enlisted in army during Vietnam war. Bubba always shared his dream of owning a shrimp business, but he succumbs to injuries during war. So Forrest starts the shrimp business to live upto his dreams.

I always wonder how life incidences connect. Everything seems related. Dinner at Bubba Gump, watching movie Forrest Gump, reading the same title and stumble upon bollywood gossip. All four incidences happening at different places at different point of time. I just tried to join few dots together and created this post.

Obama

2009-01-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hope and Change

An Obama portrait using pennies,nickels and dimes.

source-www.time.com/flickr.

Fortune cookie

2009-01-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

Fortune cookie, the best description I can give, is a hollow bland ‘gujiya’ without any filling. The waiter serves it along with the bill in a Chinese restaurant. I find its shape close to bow ties.

It contains, on a piece of paper, one line fortune more like a maxim. My fortune cookie foretells – You will soon bring joy to someone.

We were in for the dinner, which happened to be a buffet. For dessert there was an array of colorful fresh fruit bowls, water-melon, cantaloupes, papaya, grapes, strawberry and mango. Maybe this is the secret of flawless glowing skin and shiny black, straight hair of Chinese people. So my three course meal was over and done with fruits only.

Two things I like about restaurants here, in general -
1. Upon entering any restaurant, the waiter or the manager or the owner of the restaurant greets and asks for the number of guests and accordingly ushers the guests to the table.

2. Most of the restaurants have lunch buffet. Buffet is a safe deal, no surprises and misadventure; there are several starters and desserts to savor and an assortment of main course meal. Accompanying drink needs to be ordered separately. You can have a sumptuous meal to your heart content in one flat rate.

Makar Sankranti

2009-01-14T22:08:00.000-08:00

It is 8..30 pm January 14th, another day coming to end. In India it must be the next day after Sankranti. I recall it now as I open Helium.com; a site which I regularly contribute my writings to. It is amazing to find all featured articles on homepage dedicated to Sankranti.

The articles on topics as varied as faith tourism, the international kite festival and introduction to Hindu calendar; add on to the more quintessential articles on Sankranti celebrations in different regions like Lohri in Punjab and Pongal in Tamil Nadu.

The burgeoning Indian population is making Hindus ubiquitous. I had been celebrating Sankranti since childhood savoring til ke laddoos and Kichdi; even today I made for the occasion pretty edible laddoos, but the global importance and presence of Sankranti, I came to know today.

Please click on the picture, to see the article titles. I have really invested time on capturing the web page. First searched for the software; came across snagit, downloaded the trial version.It was okay till here but the actual usage of software, capturing a webpage and publishing in blog took me over two hours and here it goes.

Shamu - The killer whale

2009-01-13T09:52:00.000-08:00

(photo from the web)

Shamu, the killer whale is shiny black with white patches near eyes and snow white ventral body. It is the most gorgeous sea creature I have ever seen.

There is a facility called ‘dine with Shamu’; now don’t assume Shamu will be the guest of honor at your table. It is a poolside restaurant along with shamu’s habitat, so one can watch shamu leisurely drifting in water, when it is not performing. The night show, starts just after sunset, with Shamu and two more killer whales. Shamu arrives on stage, somersaulting in and out of water, swirling, twirling, soaring high above water, presenting all high flying thrills.

With amazing speed goes along the edge of pool splashing water on spectators close by, in a similar fashion as dolphins did in afternoon. Shamu show is an augmentation to the dolphin show. The colorful light focusing on water and reflecting on shamu at night, the background orchestra and giant screens made the show even more spectacular. It was like watching a live show and at the same time watching the broadcast too. The stadium for about five thousand spectators was packed to capacity.

Watch shamu right below the white screen and the live telecast on two large screens on either side.
Few more highlights of the show: the trainer galloping on the back of Shamu at lightning fast speed. Next Shamu dragging a trainer hooked to its tail. The energy and speed of Shamu is mind blowing, and same can be said about trainers as well. A trainer dives deep along with Shamu and the very next moment …

(photo from the web)

WOW!!, both emerge out of water with trainer in the air, standing right on the face, to be exact on the mouth of whale, lest it opens the mouth, the trainer will land up inside Shamu somersaulting.I find it awesome and at the same time torture to Shamu.

This is about thirty minutes extravagant Shamu special show during Christmas holidays. The regular 'Believe' show is during the daytime.

There are dolphin and whale watching cruise in the Pacific Ocean, like a jungle safari. Maybe someday, get a chance to relive the sea world experience in the wild too.

Having visited so many tourist attractions here; each is worth time and money spent. The legs start aching, reluctant to move any further, feel dead tired by evening but the exhibits, shows and rides all seem endless. One day is never enough to cover all. So now most places of interest have introduced fun pass which is valid year round. It is always pleasure to discover something new on each return visit and refresh old memories.

Sea World – San Diego

2009-01-12T18:41:00.000-08:00

On a visit to sea world, I got familiar with two new aquatic creatures; dolphins and killer whale. The attraction is all about sea specimens, as the title suggests. It is not that rest of creatures like seals, sharks, penguins, sting ray and colorful medley of other aquatic life; are any less important or uninteresting; but now it has been numerous times watching them, at different locales and exhibits. So we devoted much time on dolphins and killer whale during the recent visit and I will write about my adventure with the two.

An encounter with Dolphins.

A bottlenose specie of pacific-dolphin

See in the picture above, dolphin has teeth, eighty to hundred in number, in its big mouth.

Feeding dolphins

Dolphins love to eat fishes and squids. One can purchase, handful of fishes to feed the dolphin right here. Dolphins do not have a nose, hence no sense of smell; but have a blowhole to breathe. It was rather amusing to watch dolphins, periodically and rhythmically squirting water from the blowhole.
(In the picture see the blowhole of dolphin closest to you, mark the hole just behind the long snout, on top of the head.)

Dolphin show

First there is a dolphin encounter where you can touch, feel and feed the dolphins. Then there is a semi-circular stadium with dolphin pool in the center. It is a twenty minutes show. Dolphins by nature are friendly and playful too. Dolphin’s dorsal body is lighter shade of grey, while ventral is off white in color.

The welcome performance, dolphins swim speedily along the pool edge, splashing water with all might using flippers (forelimbs), and tail flukes (fins), covering the semicircular arch in few seconds. The first few rows of the stadium are meant to get wet; it is mentioned as well as forewarned before the show.

Show theme is a volunteer’s encounter with dolphins. The volunteer, fearing pretentiously, seamlessly blending her performance with dolphins. Dolphins exhibited few daring feats, with its flexible, frisky body; each time lifting the body above water; the best was a high jump across the rope, a very high indeed. Surprise in the end, the volunteer was none other than one of the dolphin trainers.

Dolphins are intelligent mammals, maybe easy to train. All dolphins were being rewarded with ample fish, after each accomplishment, I assume this is the way it is trained to perform and excel.

(travelogue to be continued for killer whale)

Library- I knew not

2009-01-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

I purposely omitted this part from yesterday’s post for two good reasons; firstly, it was making the post too lengthy and secondly, I found it disoriented from the blog theme.

But after reading Atoorva’s comment I decided to post it today.So let me continue right away from where I cropped it –

***
I indulged in extensive reading not prior to year 2006.Earlier my reading was confined to magazines and newspaper only. I was never deprived of books and libraries in India either but somehow never developed any keen reading interest.

In school, right from sixth grade onwards we had a weekly library period. I remember issuing books by Enid Blyton, PG Wodehouse, Nancy Drew series and Mills and Boon, but seldom read. Here I would like to mention my ever sincere elder sister, she read all library books from cover to cover and even remember her exchanging books with friends and neighbors. Who inspired her? I think it is the basic instinct.

The university I attended had a huge central library, apart from several small departmental libraries. Back then I presume college libraries were meant for learned professors and studious research scholars, purchased text books sufficed for under graduates like me. My hometown also swank a public library in an old colonial era building, yet to be visited, someday definitely, now I am even more eager to visit any public library at the very first opportunity.

It is true library membership was not known to me during early growing years but we had one gentleman, panditji, who did brisk business of door to door, mobile library of magazines. He used to come on alternate days on a bicycle with two bags full of magazines, and lent two magazines at a time.

Newspaper reading was limited to local English daily namely, Northern India Patrika. The Times of India, Delhi edition used to come a day after, in those years (1980s) of slow communication.

During my three year stint in Delhi, I came across makeshift, pavement book lenders. They too have hoards of novel but my preference was always for magazines.

***

Abruptly ends here. I believe, a fine prologue to yesterday's post.

Library

2009-01-05T17:10:00.000-08:00

I will dedicate my first writing of 2009 to public libraries of United States. I owe all my writings to the library. I would never be writing this blog today; had I not inculcated reading habit.

I indulged in extensive reading not prior to year 2006.Earlier my reading was confined to magazines and newspaper only. I, myself don’t know, what transformed me into an avid reader; which I never was. It is all circumstantial, having lot of free time and of course availability of books, in plenty.

The library has ample books for all; toddler, children, teenager and adult. Sometimes I just sit and skim through picture books. I also read several autobiographies; abridged version found in children section, from Houdini the magician to Charlie Chaplin the comedian.

The library gave me the chance to watch many old classic movies like, My Fair Lady, Godfather, To kill a mocking bird, Gone with the wind …. There is a vast collection of DVD to select from.In few libraries, there are international movies too, including few Hindi flicks and auditorium for screening them.

One thing amazes me, the movies are also available in VHS cassettes. A Combo DVD and VCD cassette player is available in stores till date.

Internet ready PCs are available, for one hour at a stretch. Library also has a Wi-Fi where one can work for hours together on laptop. This facility is extremely useful when we are new in city and yet to get internet connection at home.

Several other activities like book reading sessions, story time for kids, tuitions for children, computer classes are regularly organized in library.

A different lingo, you don’t issue a book, here you check out a book. If in haste, no need to step inside library, there is a drop box outside library to return books. Fifty items can be checked out at a time. Generally the book is issued for three weeks with few exceptions(new best sellers) and DVDs for a week.

A fine of twenty five cents is charged for overdue material, but then one can access his/her account online and renew books. One can even download audio books and keep a book on hold for future reading, from the comfort of home.

There is a book store inside library. Patrons and so called friends of library donate used books to the store as well as library .Volunteers are always welcome for arranging and maintaining books.

One may find old people leisurely reading inside library. India Today and Times of India are found,in magazines and newspaper section, in most of the libraries.

For elderly members, there is large print edition for select few(hundreds) novels befitting their age. I remember how my grandfather use to struggle with magnifying glass for reading, in his latter years. Americans come out with unique solution for any infinitesimal problem.

Reading results in lot of learning, otherwise it is not possible to experience everything, first hand, in this short life span. Books not only help us to understand human psychology and relationships better but also introduce us to different cultures, religions, historic events…

To conclude, the saying “Books are (wo)man’s best friends” aptly suits me now.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T17:17:00.000-08:00

Random rambling with colors

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T18:43:00.000-08:00

Wish You All Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year

A national Christmas Tree in Washington DC. Each year this natural spruce tree is lit up, decorated for three weeks to mark christmas celebration.

This photograph was taken back in Dec 2006.

Happy Holidays; and see you all in Jan 2009.

Balboa Island

2008-12-24T14:10:00.000-08:00

Balboa Island is just a ferry ride away from the mainland Newport Beach city, Southern California, in the Pacific Ocean. On a sunny afternoon, we drove down about ten miles from home and reached the ferry.I have earlier experienced drive-thru restaurant, drive-thru car wash, but here was a DRIVE-THRU FERRY. It can ferry three cars at a time covering a short distance of about a mile. A bridge can be easily built across, but it’s just another American way of adventure, fun and frolic.

The island has a beautiful Beach with a Fishing Pier. Most of the adventurous young were enjoying swimming, surfing, challenging the gusty sea waves. Few people were strolling along the beach and still many more seated far away from the lashing waves on a beach chair gazing at the wild sea, lost in their own world. One can find little ones busy making sand castles with their own play way tools.

At a short distance was a Fishing Pier. Fishing is legal in Ocean fronts all across United States. People who cannot afford a boat to venture into the sea for sailing and some fishing as well, pier is a good alternative. It is basically a long wooden platform jutting into the sea and one can catch a lot many fish from the pier too.

The sea was boisterous, huge waves were hitting the shore, may be because of high tide. All of a sudden a SEAL appeared along with the waves. It remained on the shore, for a short while, too perplexed to watch so many human beings, none resembling creatures of its own sea world. It gave a picturesque pose to any photographer’s delight and vanished in the sea along with the receding waves.For me it was once in a lifetime, memorable experience, watching a SEAL in its natural habitat.

The pursuit of Happyness

2008-12-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

I chanced upon an interview of Christopher Gardener with Glen Beck on CNN Headlines news channel. Remained glued to the television till the end; though having very little inclination for watching television.

Christopher’s life is that of, rags to riches story. A working single parent, homeless in San Francisco. The interview just gave the crux of his entire life story.
After watching the interview, few weeks later I read his autobiography, The pursuit of Happyness, indeed an inspiring true story. Despite all odds; poverty, lack of education, African American lineage and broken family(knew not who his father was); he succeeds in life.

I always keep on hearing and reading everywhere, American phrases like believe in yourself, follow your dreams, your past cannot define your future. All holds true for Christopher Gardener.

The turning point in his life influenced me too and for sure I will always remember it for the rest of my life. Chris observes a man in red ferrari looking for a parking space. He walks up to the man, offers his space as he was moving out. Chris asks him two questions before leaving.

What do you do for a living and how do you do?
“I am a stock broker”, the stranger replied and invited Chris to his office, in response to the second question.

Till date there is no looking back for Chris, today Gardener runs a successful brokerage firm and owns a red ferrari.

A blockbuster Hollywood movie was also released with the same title, starring Will Smith in the lead role.Most of the Hollywood movies are based on best selling books, having record breaking sales, millions cannot have a wrong opinion. No wonder these movies are so meaningful and leave behind a lasting impression.

Nifty Coke

2008-12-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

The water was draining somewhat slowly. I had been observing it for quite a few days. Now the time had come to be proactive before the basin got totally choked.

I tried hands on it but the drain cap was reluctant to come off.

Second option was to log a call at rental office. The maintenance staff is rather prompt in service. They knock your door once and getting no response, after sufficient time, barge in; using a duplicate key. This is one of the things I detest being here; one key of the apartment is always with the owner as a federal law and remaining two with the tenant. It is always good to specify while lodging complaint, whether you want the work done in your absence or presence.

If not specified, Murphy’s Law just works fine. When the concern person knocks at your door, you will be either in the restroom or somewhere in between cooking or engross in a task which requires more due attention than responding to the door knock.
As my head was spinning with brilliant ideas my eye caught the solution, a pack of coke cans adorning a quiet corner of the dining space. Of late my hubby has become a huge soda addict. It is on top of the routine grocery list, lest we forget to purchase.

I took one full can and emptied the 355ml coke into the wash basin. The coke vanished in seconds as if the drain was never choked, unlike sluggish water which was taking its own sweet time to drain off.

Later turned on the faucet, of gushing hot water, for five minutes and soon everything was back to normal. Classic coke can do wonders.

At this juncture, I remembered Baba Ramdev’s saying, thanda matlab toilet cleaner; a twisted version of the famous ad line - thanda matlab coca cola. Doctors only might be knowing, what all the cola cleans or rather corrodes inside our body.

On the lighter note I would like to recollect the award winning coke ad – thanda matlab coca cola, created by advertising guru Mr. Prasoon Joshi.The tune to which Aamir Khan and the nepalese kancha dance in the ad, is that of a very popular Uttranchal folk song – “Bedu Paku Baaro maasa”.

Elf Yourself

2008-12-19T19:58:00.001-08:00

Elfyourself.com is an interesting site.Upload your photo, create elf and dance to different tunes. Share and download your dance video.Purchase gifts, elves on mugs, mousepad etc.The site powered by OfficeMax is active during christmas season only.

Drinking Fountain

2008-12-18T19:31:00.000-08:00

Winners don’t do different things, but do things differently. The quote is perfectly applicable to Americans.

We all know westerners eat food with spoons and forks.But what about water; yes they don’t cup hands as we do for drinking from a tap or faucet as they call it.

At all public places like parks, market place, airports or even at rest areas along the freeway, there is a drinking fountain, another fancy name for tap. But it is not just another ordinary faucet we have in our homes. On pushing the button, the water slowly squirts out like a fountain stream. One has to make a slight angle and the water directly dispenses inside the mouth.

Then down below, there is another push button accessible by foot. It is for adorable dogs and cats. The owner pushes the button and the pet quenches his thirst.

The old technology of, turning on and off taps is replaced by the new more convenient push button technology. There is no more wear and tear of washers which result in leaking taps. There are no dry fountains either. If there is a facility, water will be there.

It is hygienic too, once outdoors our hands touch so many different unclean things around. In aquariums, you will find a sanitizer near certain exhibits, where visitors are allowed to touch few species. A sanitizer is neither soap nor water but is some sort of germ killing gel, which vanishes after solving its purpose.

Living here, I have observed, the whole American research, focuses on, making lifestyle more and more comfortable.The inventions and discoveries I read in books are actually being implemented and extensively used here by one and all.

Niagara Falls

2008-12-17T18:06:00.000-08:00

Niagara Falls is the ultimate destination for honeymooners. Millions of tourist throng Niagara Falls each year. It is at the international border of America and Canada; enhancing tourism in both countries, besides a rich source of fresh water.Niagara falls comprise of American Fall and Bridal Veil Fall on the American front.The more spectacular, the Horse Shoe Fall is on the Canadian side. Approximately six lakhs gallons of water flowing per sec.No doubt this country is God gifted, it has wealth of natural resources.

American Falls do not have great height but are wide in nature. A boat ride called ‘maid of the mist’ ferries you close to all the three falls. One can feel the misty water drizzling on face, as rest of the body is covered with signature blue Niagara raincoats. It is such an awe inspiring view, water-water everywhere, the huge amount of water eyes will not meet again.

A closer look!!
A short trek route, approaching to almost top of falls

A balloon ride, for hovering over the falls, to catch an aerial glimpse

The gushing rapids transform into falls ahead. Falls are not only majestic but a good source of hydroelectric power too.

Taming Infinity

2008-12-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

A must see video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBS_cNHvnBE), on INFINITY by Prof. Manil Suri. Anybody having little knowledge or interest in mathematics will enjoy it. A forewarning, the video is pretty long, unlike familiar short and sweet youtube videos.

A couple of months back I read, The Age of Shiva, by Manil Suri. A good casual read. Inside library, somehow my eyes encounter, Indian titles, Indian authors unintentionally. There is always something to relate to in these books.

Sometimes I re-read, if not the entire book, but few interesting (as per my prudence) excerpts from the book. Once the book is complete, next I learn about the author. Most of the contemporary authors own websites and blogs, if not, wikipedia solves the purpose, giving comprehensive detail about author’s life and work. Thus I stumbled upon this worth watching video.

Canada, By Mistake

2008-12-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

It was our first long road trip from Detroit to Niagara Falls. We were all set for the exciting journey and hit the road early morning. It was a real smooth drive for initial fifty miles. As I was acquiring faith in hubby’s driving, my navigating skills and more over our familiarity with US routes, soon we found ourselves on a bridge to Canada. U-turn, seldom an option on a bridge.

At the other end of bridge, was Canada, somewhere close to city of Toronto. At the check post; routine security checking of vehicle and self took place. Here everything is process driven so one needs to follow the procedure. Apprehensively, waiting in queue with other fellow travelers. Entering a foreign nation without valid visa is illegal, though mistakenly. Innocence is bliss, but not always.

Once in front of the immigration officer, with driving directions in hand explaining to the best of ability, how exactly we landed up in Canada without visa. She stamped cancelled on official papers we filled impromptu. Escorted us out, telling the way to get back into the US territory; and the best thing, she acknowledged, it happens with other travelers as well.

Later we did notice Toronto mentioned in accompanying driving directions. But then Toronto can be right here itself. Believe it or not just search for Delhi in weather.com and many Delhi popup in US alone.

Mapquest.com; by default gives the shortest route, which all follow. It holds good for American citizens, who do not require visa to enter Canada. As a matter of fact, this is the beauty of American passport one can travel around the world to several countries, hassle (visa) free; no wonder people crave for the long enduring path to American citizenship.

Once back into US, one of our friends guided us to reach Niagara fall, being in US itself.

Are You proud to be Working in USA

2008-12-12T16:53:00.000-08:00

Fridays will be for guest post. My first guest today is Sweta, a dear friend. It is her experience in her own words.

Coming to USA and working here is a dream for most of Indians (especially Software Engineers).

Well till now I am enjoying my work here, Have met lot of Nice people... But are we getting the same Respect as we get in India.

I went for one of the Blood Donation drive and Guess what if u are from India or have recently moved from India, They ask u so many question just because they treat INDIA as one of the Malaria driven country / other spreadable diseases...U have to be in states for almost 3 years n in between there should be no trips to India and then only u can donate blood.

This thing sucks!!!!

There are more people in our country who need more of our Blood , Our help (Financially ) Are we doing anything for them ...

Are we really Proud to be in US.

Healthy Heart

2008-12-11T20:52:00.000-08:00

Gone are the days of ancient adage, HEART OF GOLD. The new mantra is, HEART OF NUTS. Scientific evidence suggests, nuts, especially walnut and almonds, as part of a daily diet low in saturated fats, reduce the risk of heart ailments.

The elephant, The tiger And The cell phone

2008-12-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

“THE elephant, THE tiger AND THE cell phone” by Shashi Tharoor; centers around India as the emerging super power of twenty first century. For me it has been third in series, books predicting futuristic India based on statistics past and present. The earlier two being ‘Planet India’ by Mira Kamdar, and ‘The world is flat’ by Thomas Friedman.

One really needs to have extraordinary vocabulary while reading Shashi Tharoor. There are far too many words to look up in dictionary. Few interesting excerpts from the book follow.

Sarojini Naidu on Mahatma Gandhi’s frugal lifestyle, one of the great one-liners of independence struggle.
“If only he knew how much it costs us to keep him in poverty”

On renaming of Indian cities like Bombay to Mumbai.
An American businessman who was planning a visit to India after a long absence told me (author) that his associate there “used to live in Madras, but he seems to have moved to some place called Chennai.”
When told that his friend hadn’t moved but Madras is renamed as Chennai. He promptly replied “But cities don’t do that”.

Soap Operas, a new vision of Indian family, teeming with betrayal, infidelity and rivalries of all sort, has gained entry into the living rooms of middle class.

A popular international news magazine reports that the septuagenarian (being seventy years old or between the ages of seventy and eighty; that’s why I mentioned above one will need a dictionary all along while reading this book) wife of then president of India, Shankar Dayal Sharma, instructs her servants to tape every episode of the afternoon serial Swabhiman that her official duties oblige her to miss.

How People Identify Me

2008-12-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

Incident 1
I stepped into dry-cleaners cum tailoring shop for altering my Capri pant. I was briefing about required length; the guy was taking measurements and et al. Amidst all this Capri discussion, a question pops - Are you from India??

To this out of context question - I replied, “ Yes, but how do you know?”
Firstly, he said Indians shake their head a lot while talking. Secondly, for affirmative answers also they shake head sideways. It needs to be like this, with proper demonstration, moving his head vertically.
Good and accurate observation.

Incident 2
This incident happened in Rite Aid, a pharmacy store. I was engrossed trying varying lipstick shades on the back of my hand in a serene cool corner. A petite girl arrives and stands next to me. The dumb damsel extends a paper in front of me. I cross read and hand over a five dollar bill. Some sort of fund raising campaign.

She starts reciprocating in a Japanese fashion. Had I counted, it must have been more than ten times, she bend almost at ninety degrees each time. In the end said SHUKRIYA, the first word she spoke. It left me spellbound; next came my reflex question, “how do you know this ?”.
“I have many Indian friends”, she replied casually and left.

It is really amazing how skin color, facial features, behavior reveal our ethnicity. Once abroad, lest we forget, we all are ambassadors of brand India.

Mesothelioma

2008-12-05T19:44:00.000-08:00

A frequent television commercial flashes, mesothelioma, a kind of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos dust. The advertisement is not by any government agency, hospital or non profit organization but by a law firm.

In the ad two attorneys, literally provoking employees of shipyard and construction company who might have been exposed to asbestos and now victims of mesothelioma; to sue their employers for medical bills and other financial loss.

Americans believe in value of human life. There are laws which need to be strictly adhered to. Filing a law suit is a common practice.

Now coming to the point, where I correlate myself to the topic. I myself have spent; say over two decades in a parental house back in India, having asbestos patio ceiling. I remember spending significant time under the asbestos roof, playing, eating, sleeping, and doing lot many activities along with other family members. All being ignorant about mesothelioma.

I came to know about mesothelioma very recently after moving to California through a TV commercial. It maybe a new research finding. Americans research on anything and everything and very well know how to make a living out of it.

EVOLUTION OF EMC

2008-12-03T21:09:00.000-08:00

EMC sounds familiar, can well be related to the age old debate; is time real or relative. I remember learning, theory of relativity, the energy mass relationship E=MC2(read 2 as superscript) during college physics lectures.

Few years ago, I was enlightened about EMC, a storage company with the tag line, EMC2 - where information lives. Dissecting the term IT – information technology one can analyze the drifting trend. Earlier the stress was on technology i.e. hardware and software. But in recent years Information plays the key role. It is well said, “Content is the King”. Hence several storage companies are emerging to securely store zillions of bytes of information.

Couple of months back on the Oprah talk show, the guest was American pop singer Mariah Carey with her new album titled E=MC2.The meaningful title stood for - Emancipation of Mariah Carey to the second power.

All seems interesting. Albert Einstein and his ever evolving formula found diverse usage; the energy mass relationship, IT Storage Company and now a pop album.

CHANDAMAMA

2008-12-02T19:10:00.000-08:00

From an educational website (http://educatorslog.in), which I visit often and sometimes contribute resources to, initiated by one of my school alumnus; came to know that CHANDAMAMA a popular Indian children’s magazine, is now available online. It brought about childhood memories a fresh as I explored the site and came across a witty fable, mentioned below…

Once, Hodja invited his friends home, for a meal. He soon found he did not have a cooking pot large enough to make the pilav. His wife suggested that they could borrow it from the neighbor.

So Hodja went to borrow the pot. The neighbour was a little hesitant, but then he gave the pot to him. When the feast was over, Hodja placed a smaller pot inside the cooking pot and gave it to the neighbour. “Why is there a smaller pot inside?” the neighbour asked.

“Oh!” said Hodja casually. “Didn’t you know your pot was pregnant? It gave birth while it was at our house.” The neighbor’s disbelief was overcome by his delight. He happily took both the pots.

About a month later, Hodja wanted to borrow the pot once again from his neighbour. The neighbour gave him the pot willingly.

This time, however, Hodja did not return the pot for a long time. Finally, after many days, the neighbour came asking for it. Hodja pulled a long face and said: “I didn’t know how to break the news to you, but your pot died about a week ago.”

“Died?” shouted the neighbour indignantly. “A cooking pot cannot die!”
“Well, why not?” asked Hodja unanswerably. “You believed that it could give birth, didn’t you? So, why can’t you believe it can also die?”

DON’T FORGET TO VISIT www.chandamama.com

Do It Yourself

2008-12-01T16:54:00.000-08:00

We were planning to buy a new sofa for a long time. After doing much research, about different styles, colors and fabrics available, my husband placed an order for a sofa online, from the comfort of home avoiding all the hassles of buying one, from the store alternatively. On the day of Diwali, UPS delivered two packages at our place; it was a sofa, which came like a Diwali gift for both of us.

The big brown boxes were opened with great excitement and anxiety. We were well aware of the fact, that sofa will not be ready for use, rather, the few chunks and pieces, which came along had to be assembled first, for the guest to be comfortably seated; very clearly mentioned on the website when the order was placed.

To our utter surprise, the two packages contained thirty eight wooden pieces, all well numbered with screws, nuts, foam, fabric , pair of gloves and a booklet to guide through the entire assembling process. It really had to be fixed from scratch and took almost three hours, two of us working together, to give the final shape. Though the steps were precisely explained in the manual with pictures. It was more of a jigsaw puzzle to fit all thirty eight wooden parts together and not to mention they really fitted well to build a sturdy sofa which could support forty people’s weight as advertised.

Next came the role of foam and fabric. The fabric was there to thoroughly cover the wooden skeleton as well as seats and cushions. After the foam smoothly slid over the arm rest, seat and cushions were placed aptly. A robust and awesome SOFA was ready.

Assembling the sofa was a wonderful hands on experience of wood work, without having any prior knowledge of carpentry, we were able to manufacture (really!!) a sofa. It was that simple.
I am awestruck and all praises for the person who has so meticulously designed this sofa, which transforms from simple small wooden pieces of all shapes and sizes, for easy shipment and delivery to any corner of the world, into such a robust and comfortable sofa. I do appreciate the designer’s skill and accuracy of measurement, leaving no room for any kind of error and maintaining the best of quality as well.

2008-11-28T21:05:00.000-08:00

November 26th, Mumbai

2008-11-26T18:18:00.000-08:00

Much will be written and said by the media about the terrorist attack. But this is my say …

The lightening fast communication mystifies me. No sooner the terrorist attack took place in Mumbai than it broadcasted live inside our living rooms in USA. Fox news channel seamlessly blending with the NDTV coverage. It was like watching NDTV news on television back in India. The new age of collaborative news seems to thrive well in the flat world. Maybe Fox and NDTV are sister channels.

The Indian news reporter or I must say all NDTV journalists whom I watched today reporting live from Mumbai are par excellence. They are no less than any of their American counterpart. Be it news delivery, news coverage or vocal English, in fact the overall persona of one and all was cosmopolitan.

Fall 2005, Boston

2008-11-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

The incident happened, back in good old days when we did not possess a GPS, navigation system. Finding our way out was limited to handwritten driving directions, courtesy www.mapquest.com. During initial days a wrong turn, left the note in hand of no use; unless until one is smart enough to drive back to the street, from where s/he made the wrong turn.

Boston suburbs are sparsely populated. One finds them even more thinly populated, if you have recently arrived from India.

One afternoon, we lost our way. It was a precarious situation; neither in the position to reach the destination nor drive back home. Our route quest resulted in the endless loop.

After a long wait, I sighted a man at a distance. Quickly approached him and rattled away my sorry tale. He patiently listened and replied in one sweet line

“I DON’T KNOW ENGLISH” , in spanish accent.

Gosh, I could not stop laughing aloud, wondering who taught him this one great sentence. It was then I realized for the first time, English challenged people live in America too. After getting driving directions from a friend on phone, we reached home safely.

Few tips on what to do when lost.
1.Look for a gas station. Get down from the car and ask the person at the counter inside the convenience store for the directions. Probably he might be of help being familiar with the area.
2.Most important just not carry the address but also note down the nearest cross street. It really helps you to reach the area, close to your destination; then you can get down, walk around a bit and find the exact address.
3.There is no better option than GPS. It won’t shut-up till you are right on track. It is indeed a very useful device for frequent travelers.

Red Light

2008-11-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

I was desperately waiting for the traffic light to turn green and quickly reach my friend’s place. What else do you expect at red-light intersection?
Pedestrians and cyclists slowly crossing the road. They have the right of way, whether your signal is green or red, it hardly matters.

At few intersections the red-lights are pretty longish. I have seen ladies making the best use of the available time, combing hair, applying lipstick or sipping coffee.
Accepted, I have a bad habit of peeking inside cars but then holdback and read on…

The incident I quote today is the most bizarre I have encountered yet. One fine evening, at red- light, a car halts next to mine. A young smart lady in the car, glasses rolled down, shaving under arms with a suave razor.

It was rather strange, to believe, at first. I may sound conservative but what is wrong is wrong wherever in the world you might be. Few things need to be done inside the four walls called home.

I do not totally blame the girl, it might be circumstantial. Maybe she was out on a date and did not get sufficient time at home to do the needful. It got rather late coming out of the office too. After all its America, anything can happen. No lines drawn. Open culture open society and happy living.

Lets Play And End Hunger

2008-11-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

www.freerice.com, started with English Vocabulary. Now it has incorporated few more subjects like Art, Chemistry, Geography, Language Learning and Math. Select the subject of your choice and start playing.

My personal favorite subjects are English Vocabulary and Geography.Multiple choice questions appear on screen. For each correct answer, twenty rice grains are donated to the hungry via UN food program. The entire concept is amazing; learn and donate.

Fresno Chaffe zoo

2008-11-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

I am stuck!!

Just have a look at the tortoise, in self style trap. Leaving all the open space available; it squeezes through the logs, a dangerous maneuver. Now sheepishly sitting , finding hard to come out, as there is almost no space to twist and turn.

The zoo keeper managed to pull out the logs. Another lured the tortoise with a banana, showing the way out. So remember, tortoise also eat bananas not only monkeys and elephants.

Free at Last!!

A visitor feeding few leaves to giraffe, under strict supervision at the feeding station. American way of fun and little adventure too.

DOMINO'S

2008-11-19T19:50:00.000-08:00

I chanced upon a Domino’s flyer, flashing achievements in grand numbers. The numbers mentioned were mind blowing, all set to make world record.

Domino’s drivers cover 9 million miles each week in United States alone which is approximately weekly 38 round trips to the moon. It is nice to know Domino’s do not possess APOLLO space shuttle; otherwise its drivers must be visiting moon every now and then. One can well estimate the huge fuel consumption in United States.

Domino’s delivered 360 million pizzas last year; roughly a little over million pizzas each day. It adds to the proven fact Americans spend more at restaurants than on grocery bill. One of the benefits of economic recession which I foresee is more healthy Americans. Home foreclosure and job loss will force Americans to cook and eat at home and stay fit. It is well said every dark cloud has a silver lining.

No doubt, domino’s figures forced me to write this post. But I must confess; I myself enjoy domino’s pizza a lot; especially thin crust veggie feast. Not only it tastes good but the entire hi-tech online ordering process interests me. Right from selecting the pizza crust and amazing half and half topping option.

Numbers do not lie. Domino’s pizza is the number one pizza; I would recommend it to anybody. It is worth your dollar.

2008-11-18T17:46:00.000-08:00

The list seems short; many more tasks can be added to the list. Multitasking is the buzzword of modern times. Why in the world this miniscule towel left behind in exemplifying its eternal versatile usage.

I came across this guest towel in a hotel room. Materially, not close to any towel, more like a gigantic paper napkin. The hotels come out with great innovative ideas to impress guests.

ENERGIZER

2008-11-17T14:54:00.001-08:00

I often visit a 7-eleven convenience store, located close to my apartment. It caters to all my grocery requirement when spouse is out of town, though the prices are relatively on the higher side. Moreover to my observation, having done quite a bit of travelling across United States , I find several 7-eleven stores owned by Indians and notice South Asians efficiently working in the store.

On a very recent visit to the store, two teenage girls greeted me, having a stall on either side of the entrance, each ready to offer a sample drink, followed by numerous advantages of M-150 over other available energy drinks in the market.

I had a vague idea about energy drinks, though never savored one. Often times seen people consuming liquid of vibrant shades, which is neither soda nor chilled beer, hence concluded must be something different. Energy drink is a trendy concept here, no wonder Americans are full of life and zest at any time of the day.

M-150, a non carbonated energy drink, the girls bragged, no caffeine, no alcohol. Since two young girls were advertising and giving, BUY ONE GET ONE FREE offer, the most popular modern global marketing strategy, I went for it.

With two bottles of M-150(6.2fl.oz=185ml) and a gallon of milk, I swiftly walked down home, wondering about the contents of the drink, which makes a person so very energetic.

No sooner I reached home, than I started reading the information all over the bottle. It gives about, 130 calories of energy based on 2000 calorie diet.

The nutrition facts on the bottle had some numerical value corresponding to Carbohydrate and sugar. Rest is Pantothenic acid, which comprise about sixty percent of the content.Pantothenic acid, not part of my vocabulary, researched and came to know it is Vitamin B5.

ITS DIFFERENT, the slogan aptly fits M-150, as it is a product of Thailand, unlike every other product you buy in America, which comes with made in China seal. I liked the tangy test, flavor close to pineapple, color faint red, stored in a brick red glass bottle, signifying the fire it will arouse. It is a welcome change from routine beverages like tea, coffee and soda.