60 years of freedom

We've come a long way. From dhoti-clad baniyas and pandits to tie-tucking software engineers. From a land ruled by kings, to a land ruled by its people. From bel gaadis, to underground metros. From choli ghaghras to designer dresses. The journey has not been easy. But its been fruitful.

 

Yes, our India still suffers. From power cuts to illiteracy, from money-hoarding politicians to bad roads, from corruption to pollution. But aren't we still proud to be Indians. Aren't we proud of our rich culture, and our age old heritage that instills important values in us. Aren't we proud to just go out and eat all the junk from the street which is always much better than any homemade food. Aren't we proud of our multilingual population and it's ever hospitality. India is our home. We mite settle in foreign lands for watever personal reasons, but our home is where our heart is, and our heart will always be in India. Jai Hind!!! 

Do you want a partner?

No I am not gonna list down any 10 ways to get yourself a partner, for watever it is you need. This is the song I am listening to now. . The title song of "Partner" and needless to say, I am hooked. Its peppy. Thats all i can say. (And yes, when i get hooked to a song, did i mention that i listen to it like a thousand times till i m pakaoed). The movie was fun, silly, but fun. The kinds when you can put your brains aside and enjoy the one-liners. In contrast to this, Cheeni Kum was refreshing too. It was funny, but the mature fun, u know wat i mean. The kind that makes sense. I love em both, Amitabh and Tabu. The little girl was surprisingly superb. I can't write more, am not a review writer so check out the movies yourself.

 

This blog is just ain't on just the latest movies i watched. I started to write just "watever" is going on.

 

Last Saturday we surprised a friend with a baby shower. Vibha just started crying when we all shouted. And it wasn't bcoz we scared her.... I was very happy to see this visible emotional display coz it just says a lot abt how much friends mean to us. We had a really good party, i arranged for some games which everyone enjoyed, there was great food, music and everything. And yes, to arrange this party , we had two 2-hour long conference calls with 9 girls, so you can imagine how chaotic that mite have been and not to forget, the hundreds of calls to each other to decide the trivial details to the point of going overboard our minute usage on the cellfones.

 

And now that I am the official game co-ordinator, I can't wait for another party to get myself rolling. 

India fights back!

Assuming you read my last blog of the big goof-up that USCIS commited harrassing the thousands of desis in this country. Well, the loss was tremendous. People cancelling their holidays, paying those exhorbitant cancelation charges, cutting short their trips and heading home to prepare the papers. And with the sudden revokal by the govt, Indians were furious. And guess what the desis did this time, they fought back. And this time, they adopted the Gandhi approach. Inspired by the recent movie, Lage Raho Munnabhai, they sent flowers to the USCIS office. Everyone knew this would not change the decision, but atleast it would catch the attention of the powerful media. And did this Gandhigiri pay off?

 

IT DID. Yes, there were rallies too, and other protests, and the Gandhigiri. The other lawyer foundations were ready with their lawsuit. What really worked we don't know. But, the govt took back its suspension, and opened up the doors once again to the ever-so-green card. I am just glad that this time, we just didn't sit idle, as is the underlying nature of Indians. We fought back and we got results.  

Popat banaya

USCIS ne popat banaya. They literally took millions of GC-aspiring immigrants for a ride. To spare you the details and give you just a gist, there are three stages in the Greencard process. We have finished two. They had stopped accepting the applications for the third due to their backlog. In June, they announced they are opening all of it up from July. Chinkus, desis, makkus, all made a beeline at the doctors' to get their medical clearance, spent precious dollars on getting vaccinations, fedexing documents overnite, getting birth certificates in order, etc etc.  And comes July 2nd, (1st being a sunday), they issue a bulletin announcing they have temporarily suspended accepting applications for watever BS reasons they give.

 

Sometimes, we really feel, damn this US govt, who is keeping us legal tax-paying immigrants submerged in their bureaucratic paperwork, while legalizing all those who have just run across borders. What if the entire H1B community just left this country at one time? That would really shake them off their BIG ass (sorry for the language but you can judge our frustration). Well, obviously you would question me, then why are you staying here? Why don't you go back? It is way too complicated to just leave and go back. Maybe i could explain this in another blog.

 

Well, as of now, everyone is disappointed on all the time and money wasted. A lawsuit has to be on its way. And our freedom, freedom from the paperwork, restrictions, portability, layers of bloodsucking middleman is again a distant dream away.

SFO (continued from the california trip)

SFO city, another gem in the country of great cities. The Golden Gate Bridge stands tall to welcome you; and not only was i enthralled at the size of it, but was blown away, literally, with the breeze. I thought it wuld be a nice sunny day; it was sunny, but with a mild chill and I had nothing more than a light jacket. Anyways, the view was amazing. The Alcatraz, lonely island, staring at the city's downtown, the hills, the vast ocean, the sailboats, the cargo boat, everything was mesmerizing. I immediately fell in love with the city.

 

The downtown was equally interesting, needless to say, inspiring. The ups and downs, the crooked streets, the slanted cars parked up on the angled paths, I loved it. Will definitely post pictures here. Beautiful downtown, I must say. And there were actual people who lived on the "Crooked Street." I found that a bit hard to believe, god knows why.

 

Headed to my friend, Kiran's place in the evening. Stayed with her and her very adorable son, Aryan, who happens to be just one day older than Anushka for two fun days before heading back to the East. The kids had a blast, and so did we. Giggled, and talked, and shared, and cooked. Fun, fun and fun.

 

A fun holiday that was.

Eulogy

I wish to dedicate this blog to my computer, who was just not a home pc, but a friend, guide and philosopher....and googler, and chatter, and a music box and ...well the list goes on and on. There was a flicker and my comp breathed its last. Though I admit I did rave and rant when it just refused to boot up, but the network guys informed me well, that it had lived its life and it was time for it to go. I shouldn't really complain. Instead, I should give it a well-meant farewell.

 

I stayed without a PC for a fortnight, which guys, is not a short time. The internet is your window to the world, isn't it? One day you don't connect to your messengers, and you feel so lost, don't u? I couldn't voice chat with my family, I couldn't listen to my music, I couldn't check my orkut,  and my message boards. Though I have to say my berry saved me from just tearing my hair away. I could atleast check my mails and read Bombay Midday. Berry was the blessing that kept me alive and helped me get thru this teary, lonely 15 days.

 

Jignesh has now left his laptop with me until we get a new desktop. Yes, the PC did get its replacement, but I just wanted to write a few words so that I don't delete my old PC off my memory.

Sunny California

Whom am I kidding? I loved it. I loved California......or should i say Kaaliforrnya (as Arnold says). The state has it all. Ocean, mountains, lakes, green verdant pastures, technology, and tech companies. And yes, the paper green too. And lots and lots of desis, with come hand in hand with a deluge of indian restaurants and stores. I wouldn't mind moving to Calif, only if it were affordable. The houses, the rents, the gas, everything is super expensive. Yes, I know the salaries are better too, but i don't think its proportionate.

 

Sacramento was affordable. Lovely city. Cheap, nice, and california.

 

Lake Tahoe was a 2 hour drive from Sacramento and absolutely breathtaking. If I may, let me jot down a few statistics here. The lake is 6K plus feet above sea level, 22 miles in length, 12 miles wide, 72 miles of perimeter, 99.99% pure. If you drop an object like 70 feet deep, you can still see it. We drove around the entire perimeter, and clicked a dozen pictures. It was beautiful, calm, and serene, and picturesque.

 

San Fransisco, to be continued.