A quick catchup...

Memorial weekend, tennis matches and movies succeeded in keeping me away from blogging for a while and I thought I should just sum up whatever I wanted to write over the past few days.

Haircut:
People who read my blog regularly (or atleast once in a while just so the count would increase a wee bit :D) would know about my haircutting experience here. With the first hair 'mowing' effective for 3 months, I had to trim my hair again; and living in a great metro like Clinton, I had no choice but to go to the same shop again (I should get my clippers and try 'suya sevai' once). This time, I made sure I sat on a different chair; and I did succeed in dodging the big mower :D This lady, a typical red neck seemed to understand my description better; and the way she explained it (just blend it all the way to the top, etc, etc) I believed she would do a better job (nammmmmmmmbi okkaandhaen :D). Everything looked fine until the machine almost reached the centre of my head. I was thinking "aaaahaaa... Wanted a vandhu vaangaayittiyaeda" (digging my own grave); but fortunately she wasn't as dumb as the previous mower. As she set a virtual boundary almost at the center of my head and started playing around, I thought I'd end up in the infamous Beckham style; but she had some soft corner for the right side of my head. So ended up having a cap of hair at the center of my head with my left portion completely mowed and the right portion cut as I wanted it to be. Hmmm... At least I was 50% close to what I wanted. :)

A trip to Arkansas:
Long weekend usually means a trip; and memorial day weekend was not an exception. We were out to the nature state on road and pretty much covered all of Arkansas. Needless to say I took a lot of photographs and I'm trying my hand on post processing now. One of the them turned really well... A pic that looked so ordinary appears exceptional now. Let's see how it goes. Highlights of the trip -
1. Met my friend Karthik after a long time, 2. Rode a boat :) Not a hand motor boat; but a pontoon with a steering wheel. That was fun to say the least, 3. Visited some excellent spots. Usually, we would be going in search of such spots. But the whole Ozark area was splendid when it came to the view points and scenaries. In short, enjoyed the trip. :)

Some movies:
Saw quite a few movies over the past few days... New roomie being a gulte, I was catching up with a few Telugu movies too. Of the ones I watched, I liked Sarvam. It's not an exceptional movie or something; but the concept behind the movie (butterfly effect) was awesome; and it's definitely worth a watch. Newtonin moondraam vidhi was also good; but one should forget logical aspects to watch the movie.

That's all we have for now... Stay tuned as we come back with more updates shortly. (Itthudan indha seidhi arikkai niravadaigiradhu :D)

Hail Democracy!

Well... I'm not sure how to start this one, to be honest. I just couldn't digest the fact that India has chosen THE WORST party to the nation one more time. 60+ years of independence and the nation has moved from good to bad to worse; completely under the spell of this party; with the heights of its impotence reached on December 26th, 2008. No development whatsoever is possible under (pardon my language here) a bunch of old brats lead by an Italian!

I can keep writing pages and pages about this without any reduction in my irritation; but let me share a few points that are quite interesting and annoying.

1. Election malpractices reached a historic high this time; including rigging, bribing the voters and rejection of electoral rights for lame reasons. For instance, in Madurai (my home town), Tamilnadu; the polling % was 70+ when many of my friends and acquaintances didn't get to vote; and out of that Azhagiri (the corruption king's son) won by a margin of 2 lakh votes (the entire constituency has only 7 lakh voters). Further every home in Madurai was given 500 Rs per vote.

2. The polling % in Mumbai was in the lower 40s. Probable reason - Long weekend; and everyone planned trips to Goa and other nearby spots. In one simple sentence 'Shame on you Mumbaikers'. It's not sufficient to just talk and compose sentimental emails about blasts, insecurity and the loss of lives. What did you actually do to save your butt? Nothing! Even worse, Congress has won all the Mumbai constituencies; while the home minister shrugged his shoulders and told you that he has no idea about the nation's security.

3. I can't think of any improvements in the past 5 years; and in my view this was one of the worst Governments India ever saw. Corruption was at its peak; and in Tamilnadu alone thousands of crores were swallowed by MK and co.

4. Rahul Gandhi, except for his surname has no business whatsoever in Indian politics. IMHO there are a million other deserving youngsters fit to rule India better than him.

5. This is an illustration of how stupid the system of democracy can get. Reminds me of Hitler's lines in Mein Kampf where he says democracy will never allow a great person to raise up to power, purely because of the impedence mismatch between the brilliant few and the masses. This result just testfies every word of that sentence.

In a nutshell, I sincerely hope that the sanity of the Indian masses improves in the future; and that they get out of this silly sentiments of electing a party just because it has been ruling us for a long time. My dad's history book read "India is a developing country" and mine did too; but even if my son's book doesn't read "India is a super power"; let it not read "India is an underdeveloped, poor nation in the clutches of hunger". May God bless Indians and save the country from this destructive path. Jai Hind!

P.S: The ONLY thing I like about this election result is that the commies have got a nasty blow; and they've been castrated this time. At least one news to be happy about. :)

Elections...

Elections - One term that will be lingering in Indian hearts (at least in those of the politically active/responsible citizens) for the past month or so. With the final phase of elections happening today, the fate of the nation for the next few years would be decided in a few more days.

I'm not a political expert per se; and given that I'm in US now (and that the Indian Govt provides no options for people like me to cast their votes), I don't even have my name in the electoral list. But I just wanted to share a few thoughts about the way things are poised; and I'd also like to take this chance to cross verify my ability to analyze political strategies depending on the similarities/differences between my analysis and the actual proceedings.

Congress doesn't have anything to boast of as an achievement save the fact that a puppet PM compelted his term and that they signed the nuclear deal. Whether the deal is good or not in itself is a mystery and a highly debatable topic. That said, the Govt has a lot of negatives against it, primarily lack of internal security and absolutely no development whatsoever. In Tamilnadu, its allies (DMK) have taken corruption to a new level and they are setting role models for how one family can loot thousands of crores of taxpayer's money by controlling and distributing power among its members.

So does that mean the BJP will sweep the polls? Definitely not. Several reasons can be attributed for this fact. 1. Single party majority is almost becoming out of question in the current decade. 2. National parties, though known across the nation, aren't particularly strong in all states. Classic example being Tamilnadu; where the the Dravidian parties take the lead role in controlling politics. 3. The pseudo secular media (almost all the Indian news channels are under this category) and parties have always tried to portray BJP as some Hindu fanatic organization that will gun down everyone from the minority if it comes to power.

Personally I feel (1) is going to be the deciding factor in this election. BJP doesn't have a real strong alliance in the southern parts of India; and almost in all four states save Karnataka (where BJP actually commands some vote bank) BJP is almost deserted. In the north, I feel BJP will do quite well especially in states where it is in power. Even otherwise, there isn't anything that prevents people from voting for BJP; unlike congress that has a bunch of negatives tailing it. So assuming that the BJP does well in the north, all it needs is some solid support from the southern states; and I believe they have a plan in place - the third front. The third front in my view, is more or less like a short term parking place and honestly speaking, it has absolutely no sense in it because the parties cannot contribute to each other in anyway! So the whole point of the third front is to get some MP seats and then trade them on either sides depending on individual interests and profits.

That said, ADMK in TN and TDP in AP are likely to join the NDA; and the notable point there is BJP didn't even contest in many constituencies just to make sure that the anti-congress, anti-DMK vote is not split. With ADMK+ winning a large number of seats in TN; and TDP winning at least 50% seats in AP, added to the fact that BJP itself will get something out of Karnataka, the party doesn't really need to struggle very hard to cross the magic number. If at all my assesssment is right, Advani has taken this political game into a new level of post-election competition, which is kind of new to our setup. The party is seemingly very weak in the south (encouraging the opponents and giving them a relaxed mindset); and down the line when everything is finalized, all the silence might pay off and the lotus might bloom in the center. Let's wait and watch :)

Back to blogging! :)

People who follow my blogs quite regularly will know that breaks in blogging aren't extremely new to me. There have been occasions when I didn't blog for a while and then resumed blogging. This is one of them and the only thing that is different this time, is the reason for this break.

Usually it will be either because I didn't have a peaceful mindset or because I had a lot of work; but this time it was because of a combination of lot of factors. First and the most important of them being a gap/block/impedance/whatever you like to call it, in writing. I'd be flooded with thoughts; but I just didn't have the mood/nerve to put it down in writing. This is not just for blogs and it was also noted with my other works - script writing, poems(?!), short stories, etc. Something wasn't just so right!

Second, I'm having a pretty bad internet connection at home and outages are not rare. If at all I got the mood to write, I wouldn't have the internet connection working; and blogging from office has never been my cup of tea. :)

Third, the topics I wanted to write about were quite complex and I'm sure half of the readers (as though I have a million followers ;)) wouldn't get what I'm trying to say unless I'm really clear about what I'm saying. So it needs some time and concentration to come up with a presentable, comprehensible content.

Put together, there was an inevitable break and now it's kind of over except for the second point! :D I thank all my friends who have been inquiring about the break in my blogging journey (trust me there were quite a few :D) and I hope I'd be making a lot of posts in the recent future! :)

25 Random things about me...

I joined the facebook network (once again?!) recently; and the last time I joined it, I hardly did anything with my profile. This time, I was taking a tour around the site; and landed upon this interesting concept... Writing down 25 random things about oneself. Can be anything... The only rule being there should be 25 different things in there. I gave it a shot and here is what I came up with...

1. I'm a perfect example of a Libran. I have seen quite a lot of differences among my friends who belong to the same sun sign, but nonetheless the Linda Goodman definition of a Libran would be at least 95% accurate in my case.

2. I was named Yogesh and continued to be Yogesh till my high school. Namology changed my name to Yogaesh... If you ask me whether it made a difference or not, I'd say it did... At least my name became unique :D

3. I'm pretty much a mirror when it comes to relationships and people. What you see in me is what you want to see in me.

4. I'm a big fan of movies and I can watch movies non-stop as long as the list is good. Given a choice, I prefer Tamil movies for the simple fact that I grew up with them. But I watch a lot of movies in English, Hindi and Telugu as well. I avoid watching movies in languages that I don't comprehend, purely because I don't want to miss the emotions that the words and the dialog delivery convey.

5. I like superstar a lot and nothing could match the excitement of watching a superstar movie FDFS (First Day First Show) with die-hard fans. You could hardly follow the movie; but the ambiance is just unbeatable.

6. I hate people who talk about the unknowns just for the heck of it. I'd love to learn things that interest me; and I wouldn't mind listening to a well informed person. But talking some crap just to show off; irritates me big time.

7. I can alternate between an extreme introvert and an extreme extrovert; depending completely on the people I am with. I can easily socialize with people whom I can connect to quite easily; and vice versa.

8. I'm a strict vegetarian (lacto-vegetarian; not Vegan) by chance and choice. I'm an ardent fan of South Indian food and rice has to be there in my diet; one way or the other :D

9. Logic and art are the two most interesting things to me; and just as those two topics are miles apart, my interests are also diversified. To put in a short list from the top of my head it would be Movies, Psychology, Writing, Philosophy, Poetry, Politics, Programming, Management, Religion and Photography.

10. I'm not a calculative person when it comes to money; and I have failed being calculative despite conscious efforts. At the same time I'm not a spend-thrift either :D

11. I love a laid back life; but I can put in whatever it takes to work towards my goal if I really believe that's what I need.

12. Loyalty is what matters the most to me - both ways!

13. I cannot say 'No'. That is the worst weakness and the greatest strength in me!

14. I hate hurting others and like-wise I hate people who make sharp comments without bothering about the other person's feelings.

15. I'm extremely frank and except for occasions where truth will hurt the other party, I don't lie.

16. I've never copied in a test at least after my high school. Not that I'm a gem of a person or that I'm Harichandra's reincarnation. But it just felt so pointless. :)

17. I believe in looking at a person as a whole than judging him/her based on one of his/her traits. For the same reason, I love Hitler for his virtues, though I hate him for being inhuman to the jews.

18. I usually smile when I speak; and use :) or :D most of the time when I chat/write something in online forums.

19. I love level-headed people and I'll try my best to be who I am, irrespective of what I am. Infact that's something I love the most in superstar. :)

20. Sports and physical activities have always been a distant relative to me. We hardly meet; and when we do, we get along decently well.

21. I used to follow cricket until the match fixing scandal came up. Ever since then, I gave up even watching cricket and these days I feel it's becoming the biggest business in India rather than a sport.

22. I'm more or less addicted to internet and I could hardly imagine a day completely offline; unless it's an extremely busy day or a day spent traveling. On an average day, I spend at least 10 hours online.

23. I love humor (or humour if I should go by the spelling I learned at school) and that is usually reflected in my speech and interests.

24. I don't change myself as long as I'm convinced that I'm not wrong; no matter what it costs me.

25. Everything is just so elaborate when it comes to my thoughts, dreams and visualizations. I can feel the drizzle if I think of a hill station; and I can describe my dream girl from head to toe! :D This helps me with my story writing stuff; though people would find it hard to accept that my stories even qualify to be called stories, to begin with! :D

People who read my blog posts quite regularly (assuming there are a few) would know at least some of these... But nonetheless, I felt this list just had to be here. :) If you blog too, try giving this list a shot; and I'm sure it'd be a different experience both to you and the reader.

Earth hour!

One of the most hilarious things about west is the way they come up with these days and hours... No no... I don't mean they 'make' days or hours; but they name them one thing or the other, while completely forgetting the ultimate solution. For instance, they broke the close-knit family system long back and now celebrate mothers day, fathers day, brothers day, sisters day and so on... But not once do they attempt to get back to a close-knit system... They just can't stand it.

Now this earth hour... Oh man... Give me a break! In Tamizh there is a famous saying -- "Padikkiradhu Ramayanam... Idikkiradhu Ramar kovil" which means that the activities and preachings are just the opposites of each other. That'd apply excellently well to the west. You should look at their consumption of power... It'd leave an Indian dumbfounded... When the homes in India remain in darkness because of want of power, empty parking lots here have dozens of flood lights turned on all the time. No no... I'm not this communist conservative who cannot stand anyone living prosperously; but just a neutral onlooker awestruck by the hypocrisy. Below are a couple of snaps from my workplace... I'm not going to mention which city or which company, for that is not my intention! But just imagine the level of stupidity/hypocrisy it reveals...





(This was on a Saturday and I was the only person in the office for some urgent work)

Am I a 'West bashing racist from Asia'? No! I'm not that either.People say that Asia accounts to most of the world's pollution; but isn't that logical given the fact that 1/3rd of the world lives in India and China alone? What I'd like to see is a lot of pollution free vehicles being introduced in India and the subcontinent; and as much as this is happening at a gradual pace these days (pollution free buses, BSIII standards mandated for new vehicles, etc) there is still a lot that India and Asia could do towards establishing a greener environment. But given the greatly functional political system there, there is nothing good that one could ask for. Things will happen when they ought to unless a lot of political activists chip in and change the system for the good.

The Recession Effect...

Ah... Sometime to blog after a short break. Time is a required condition to blog; but it's in no way sufficient. I mean you could have a whole day of free time, but you might not feel like writing anything at all. Off late, there have been quite a few instances like these that reduced my blogging frequency and also put our movie script on hold for a while. (Did I tell you about the script? If not, I will... but in another post :))

There used to be days when every Indian street had at least 10 Government officers... These days, there are at least 10 people from every Indian street currently residing in the US and this is true at least in the metros and cities. So quite naturally, news about US easily sells and has a lot of demand too. For those from the previous generation who still feel computers are too tough to cope up with, news papers and magazines combined with TV news makes their breakfast, lunch and supper. The magazine editors have noted this demand perfectly, and they make it a point to publish some news about the trend in US. When there is no news to publish, they make up one! :) Man... These days, the second part of it is getting slightly overboard and as much as it irritates me, it's funny on the other side. Now that clouds of recession are surrounding the US the news that they come up with become all the more interesting and hilarious! A few interesting headlines that I could remember:

"Mortgage industry topples in US... Houses available for 1000$"
(Mind voice: Err... Did you mean dog houses?)

"Despite reducing prices to 500$ none is buying a home"
(M.V: Will you please give me a call when you find one such 'real' house?)

"Obama has planned to ban H1B employment"
(M.V: Are you by any chance the secretary of state? :))

"Giving privilege to citizens and workers is against business ethics."
(M.V: EKSI. Had this been India and there are so many foreigners employed; while millions of Indians are jobless, we would've gone on an indefinite strike! That is democracy but this is Bureaucracy?)

The most interesting part of this is the attitude of 'ponna petthavainga' (parents who have a girl ready to be married). Sometime back I wrote a short story (since this is my blog, I take the liberty to call it a short story :D) on how computer engineers were considered hot cakes in the matrimonial market. Now that there is some level of instability in the US market, the trend has completely reversed. "Software Engineers excuse!", "Prefer Indian groom" and statements on these lines aren't too tough to hear and see. If there's something that pisses me off big time, it is this attitude from the Indian parents. I mean somehow they tend to lose their rationale and end up in this extremely conservative outlook. IT is not the only sector that is affected by recession and not all persons from core departments get work in their respective departments. IT companies have a lot of civil, mechanical, textile and production engineers too... At the same time, if someone is working in some other field it doesn't mean that he is inferior (as they thought before) or superior (as they are thinking now). It's just a question of the individual's potential, aspiration and interest. I sincerely hope that the parents who pressurize their kids, to choose a branch of their choice and always go with the popular beliefs to get a groom for their child realize their mistake and let their children live!

P.S: Recession is indeed threatening a lot of jobs in the US. The Govt is in the process of enforcing the regulations as much as possible; causing a lot of desis (specifically manavaadus) return home. Most of them would've been here under the banner of a non-existent company or a staffing agency in the name of a company. There are many others whose projects came to an end and had no choice but to return to India; but hey... that's the way the system was supposed to work. If a foreign national who came into the US for work, lost his job and couldn't find an alternate job in 2 weeks time he is supposed to go back to where he came from. Till date, these rules were taken lightly and now it's being enforced thoroughly. That's what the difference is!