Behind orkut, there are many other donuts!!!!

Hows that sounding ! Well that’s the fortune for orkut. I would say so. I wonder which psychic has been employed by google. They come up with amazingly true and great predictions of fortune.... it once said...in my orkut id..

It just told me that I am an able man, but the second part of it has many comprehensions. The donut specialist thinks we are nuts! The question of my interest is not what orkut does but it is that “Why do we still see these things?” Thousands of people say, “It’s all crap”, yet that is a regular in anything, be it a website, a celebrity magazine or even an undersold news paper. It is still one of the favourites of many of us. Only thing could be, that we don’t want to accept and think that it is all old.

When I was a kid, a typical conversation when asking for a magazine from any of my aunties would be
I…." Swalpa book kodtheera” (Can I borrow that book?)
Aunty ……. “Thadiyoo….. vaara bhavishya odtha iddini” ( Wait… I am reading weekly horoscopes)

Is it the idea that 'all old' is bad or is it the reason that 'all new' is good. How much do we actually think before deciding something like this? Are we just falling for the fad of the modern world or is the modern day cult masking our actual reasoning?

The French woman

A knock on the door on my friends flat, a loud noise of someone climbing down the stairs hurriedly that hushed down in a second. The entire exciting suspense dint result in the door being opened, but I definitely heard that F word by a feminine voice once my friend opened the door. She has run down the stairs to turn the stove off which had already burnt her bland and tasteless pasta. All curious with our heads down trying to see what is left in that burnt pan, which dint actually give me a chance to see the person who was responsible……

Thanks to the burnt pasta, it ignited a conversation between us three. It was then I actually got a chance to glimpse the beautiful face. She was gorgeous, like a Greek angel. The kitchen was all murky with the smoke from the burnt pan under cold water. My friend introduced each other and it was just laughter after that. After half an hour of talk about people in France, India and the UK and their lifestyles there was a pause. She broke the silence by asking me ‘Are you married?’ I threw my lavish smile at her and replied ‘No’ and my immediate ticklish impulse was to ask ‘And U?’, which I did. I was amazed by her response. She said ‘I don’t believe in relationships’. She was in her late thirties and had only had a few ‘no strings attached’ relationships to quench her humane needs (exact words used by her). She gave an example of her uncle in France who had married and divorced five times and now he is still single (???). She had lost all the belief in relationships and was not in touch with any of her family as well. I was muted for a while, she was defending her belief. She was happy to speak to someone about all these. I was happy that I gave her a chance to speak. It was late in the night by then and I had to leave. She had settled down by ordering an ‘all meat’ pizza. I smiled, shook my hands and said diplomatically ‘it was nice to meet you’ and I heard a response ‘same here’. She was at the door when she waved and said ‘you speak good English’. I waved back with a ‘ta’ at the end and said ‘we speak English back at home as well’.

The whole experience was something unusual. It gave me food for thought for the whole night and I thought; I was so fortunate not to be born in such a family or country. I am glad that we don’t have to lead our lives by following such examples. A strong bond, a feeling that relationships are made forever still binds us. I can never forget that woman; she has made me feel that we Indians are great with strong ethical values and family bondage. I feel she is one single example of west, is there is something that these people should learn from us or is it just that we follow them blindly and accept anything that has a tag ‘comes from west’ ?

18 months in ‘Home away from Home’……………

San Do Hazaar chaar, sathra sethember, (17th Sep, 2004) celebrations in the Bangalore Airport. I was on voyage to one of the most exotic and after sought places in the world. London. This is a kaleidoscopic picture of my experience in this land of imperialism from that day.

First flight of my life to Mumbai was a little better than journey in a high tech bus just for the reason I was flying and was not on ground. After a three hour long wait in the international lounge at Mumbai, I boarded a better flight (AI) and realized it was better only in size and it flew out of the country. With approx 10hrs journey to reach London, I de-boarded the great flying machine, checked thru clearance with my two big dogs (called suitcases) and one bag. I moved on to Guildford by coach (known as bus to us) where I had to share accommodation with another Indian. The journey in the land of ‘Your Highness’ started from that day and is still on.

For a guy who liked the hustle bustle of Gandhi bazaar (Bangalore, India) and its ever hungry crowd, this posh, grave silent land was killing initially, but now I am used to it ( I had no options either!). Guildford, Surrey, the place I live is one of the posh localities in the UK, with every 15th car being a Ferrari, and every second or third car a Merc or BMW, it is a visual treat for all those fanatic crazy car lovers.

Communication!! Yes it was a problem initially, not with Britons, but with people I used live with. They were all from Hyderabad, India. It was/is fun because they speak in Telugu but I reply to them in Hindi, I speak better Hindi now than before. Initially understanding English by English was tough when people write and speak m8 (pronounced as mite, which actually means mate), (Un)fortunately now even I speak like that!! It is a land of diplomacy. A typical 5 minute conversation with an English will include an average of 3-4 ‘Pleases’ and 9-10 ‘Thank Yous’ with intermittent ‘Sorrys’. The three golden words in ‘English’ English dictionary.

Um… now the reason for me to come to the UK. Yes! To study for Masters. (MSc in HR). May sound quite weird for an engineer to master in HR; however the course was not just HR. It was also about learning various sections of UK law, pecuniary losses, constructive destruction and many more. Trying to learn to use strategies to wipe of the camouflage of most of complex ideas, words and phrases!! But anyways it has always been fun to study HR and I thoroughly enjoyed it, though there was a deadline for some assignment or course work everyday. It is all past now, because I graduated recently!

Blimey! Next part of this pack is the one that is most exciting. Girls!! Being honest, not that great, however the low jeans are far low than the required 5” from the naval, probably 7”. The other side of this is sad, teenage girls around 12 or 13 are the ones who create records in the UK of being the youngest mother. (Youngest mother of the UK is 11 years old). I ought to mention, my course mates…Wow! Breath taking similarity...it was all Chinese girls. Everyone looks the same. With so many analogous faces around, it is tough even now for me to identify them. Their tongue twisting names makes it even tougher to communicate with them. I should admit a few of them are really cute and hot!!!

UK, as a location is good both naturally and man made, everything here is automated, looks quite boring for a guy from India where most of the things are manual. It is only machines working and no humans around, however I should thank technology when once I had a conference call with my friends in the US, the UK, India, and Singapore, and It was great! Hats off to that great person who found something called mobile phone technology. The reality of virtual world of internet, interesting and emotional conference internet chats all have become an inseparable ingredient of my life now.

Of course there are things I miss. ‘Kannada’ my language, road side paani-puri n gobi. My people and the ease at which I could reach them n many more. Finally, I have learnt that the distance speaks, with every e-mail going from my mail box with a signature keep mailing or keep in touch, people who I just knew in India, I know them better now. Good to know that people open up when someone who they like is not near them and I have been experiencing it. I am actually feeling great about it. The world here in the UK continues as usual, however u guys ‘keep in touch and keep mailing’

The Journey Starts

The journey has just started. I have set the ship to sail in my ocean of thoughts. I hope I will never reach my destination..........