Tag: Years past

I stole this tag from Sunshine. And like any tag, its going to reveal more personal stuff about my life. Let’s see how much I will be able to put out here.

30 years ago (1981)

1. The first train ride that I remember. My reaction was: Everything is running backwards, including the Earth and the tree. And I think I said something along the lines: “Mummy Dharti ghoom rahi hain.” in a very excited tone.

2. My first memory of my cousins, one of them was about a month old, the other was two years old. My aunt asked me for a name for the baby. I named her Sony, the name of my first best friend in school.

3. I remember roses, a lot of them and a variety of them, in our garden. My mom is an avid gardener but except for that time of my early childhood, I have rarely seen her planting any flower-plants.

4. I remember seeing a dead snake that my dad killed. I am not sure how to describe that feeling. I was scared, excited, thrilled and somewhat sad.

20 years ago (1991)

1. I moved from class VIII to class IX. A big change, at least for that age. All of sudden everyone around me was talking about boards and career choices. One thing I remember hearing more often that year was how next few years are going to decide the rest of my life.

2. I didn’t like my class IX class-teacher. Her first question to me was: what’s your last name? I answered, “Nothing.”. She remarked, “So you are Richa Nothing.” The entire class laughed. She insisted on calling me ‘Richa Nothing’ for the entire year, which meant the entire class called me the same. Some of them still do. I absolutely hated it.

3. We went to Delhi on a class tour. I saw Red Fort, Qutub Minar, India Gate, and Appu Ghar for the first time. It was a great trip.

10 years ago (2001)

1. I graduated from my Master. I had a job in Infosys before graduation but then 2001 recession hit. I was put on the bench for indefinite time. It was a hard time. All my classmates were joining their jobs, starting new life and I was stuck at the home.

2. I approached almost all the companies visiting the campus that year to talk them about job. I was told right on the face that they are not interested in hiring a woman. Forget the qualifications, knowledge or ability.

3. I cleared my NET and was offered scholarship (JRF) to pursue PhD in my home university. So by end of 2001, I was all ready to pursue my PhD. However, later (2002 beginning) I got a job offer from one of the company (only one who accepted to interview me) and decided to take that.

4. Spent a night in the hospital attending a friend who had an epileptic attack and was unconscious for the most part. It was a scary experience.

5 years ago (2006)

1. I had already left my first job and joined PhD in Stanford. I cleared my Quals in this year. I did my first internship that summer.  

2. Got out of a relationship. Got my heart broken. Badly. Got into depression. Lost 20 lbs in 2 weeks. Almost quit my PhD.

3. I went to New Orleans that year. This was year after Katrina hit. We went through the worst affected areas of New Orleans. On the doors of the houses, a number was written in red ink/chalk. When asked, I was told that’s the number of dead bodies they found inside the house. I still have those images etched in my mind.

4. Bought my first ever car and started to learn driving.

5. My first room-mate in US graduated and left. So I changed room-mate. The new room-mate was the biggest jerk that I have had as a room-mate.

3 years ago (2008)

1. I had already bought my first D-SLR the year before. So it was a year of photography. It was a great year.

2. I had been going to Kenpo Karate for a year at this point. This was the year when I started getting a bit better at it. I got my blue belt and I learned how not to get hung up on mistakes. It’s an accomplishment, a mental discipline I am rather proud of.

3. I started this blog in 2007, but 2008 was the year I wrote the most post in a year: 248 posts in 366 days. I haven’t been able to match that number ever since.

4. I travelled quite a bit. Euro-trip in March. Spent the summer in Southern California (second internship) which meant weekly trips to some where nice. Went to Disneyland five times that summer. Visited Las Vegas for the first time that November. Went to Grand Canyon. Finally, spent the Christmas in Scotland.

5. I got two paying photography gigs: Doing a photography board for Geophysics Department and then taking pictures at Stanford Graduate Student Council’s Thanksgiving dinner.

6. I had a very productive year research-wise. For the first time, my advisor was impressed by my work.

2 years ago (2009)

1. The great recession hit which left me without a job yet again (do you see a pattern here?). I was ready to graduate that year but there was no point graduating without a job, was there? So frantic search for job began. By the end of year, I did find one.

2. I got a severe back ache as well as a nerve pinch in my left leg, for the first time in my life. I was in physical therapy for 4 months. Nerve pinch was the worst. I couldn’t walk at all.

1 year ago (2010)

1. I wrote my thesis and defended, hence finishing my PhD. I gained weight during this time period. This is the first time I have gained so much weight since “great depression” of 2006.

2. I moved from California to Texas.

3. I started my new job.

4. I went around California with friends before joining my job. That was fun.

5. Bought new furniture, new TV and DVD player.

6. I wrote the least number of posts in a year in 2010: 135 posts in 365 days.

So far this year (2011)

1. I have been exercising fairly regularly and eating healthy. For past 2 weeks, I have been steadily loosing 2 lbs per week. At this rate, I will be at my pre-thesis weight in about 2 months.

2. I have been posting fairly regularly this year. I don’t think I will be able break the 2008 record but I can at least beat last year’s record.

3. I have made some new friends in the new place and I have been arranging lunches/coffee with them. I am getting better at this social networking (offline, online I have 333 friends on FB) thingy.

4. Bought my first new car: a 2010 Toyota Corolla. Miles: 08 mile on first day.

Yesterday

1. I was very sore because of my aerobics class the day before.

2. Worked whole day. I had a pretty productive day, in fact.

3. Watched cable after a long time. Ever since I bought my new TV which gives me direct access to Netflix, I have been watching more Netflix than cable.

4. No exercise. 

Today

1. I got a hair cut.

2. I ran a lot of errands since morning. In Houston, it means a whole lot of driving. I think I drove about  60-70 miles today, if not more.

3. I tried out my car ac for the first time. Yes, the temperature in Houston has risen again.

Tomorrow I will

1. Sleep late.

2. Eat out. I haven’t done that in a about 3 weeks now.

In the next year I will

1. Go to India. I haven’t been to India for 3.5 years now. Its long over due.

2. Travel a bit more than I have been. Take more pictures.

3. Have some saving.

 

That’s all folks. Take the tag if you like it…

Thursday Challenge: Trees

Every week I check out the Thursday challenge and think about posting something but simply never found time to go through my photographs to do so. Today, I finally made it. The topic was so tempting that I couldn't resist. The only problem is that I have so many pictures on the topic that I can't pick one, so here are selected few on the topic:

This first one, that I like to call Reflection, was taken in Yosemite park on a boxing day.I like the way melting snow giving way to the stream and of course the tilted tree looks like its eager to see its own reflection.

The next picture is from the Japanese Tea garden in San Francisco Golden Gate Park. If you even plan to go to the SFO, do plan to spend some time here. Its very peaceful place to be. I like to call this picture: Green.

The next one is a complete change in scenery. This is right at the gate of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. This is Joshua tree forest in the Arizona desert. Yes its a forest. Its simply spectacular view. I call this one: Survival.

How can I forget Christmas Tree among all the trees. This is the shot from San Francisco (I think its Pier 39), just before the Christmas. I like the way it has a reindeer, Christmas tree and the moon all in the same shot. Can't get more christmasy than that, can it? This one is call: Festive.

And now moving internationally. This is from the St. James park in London. I am not a big fan of London but St. James park is  my absolute favorite there. I call this picture: Reaching out.

And lastly, my beloved Stanford. This one is from a running/walking trail in Stanford Campus. Doesn't this look awfully familiar? Well do you remember the default Windows XP desktop? Doesn't this look like that one? Did you know the Windows XP desktop shot was taken in Napa Valley (near San Francisco) so its not a surprise that I found a similar landscape while shooting in Stanford, is it? I call this: Breathtaking.

That’s all for today. Hope you like them..

I can rhyme

Impedance is Red
Reflectivity is blue
If you want to find oil
Use seismic as a clue.

Okay I am a geek but a rhyming geek! I will happily take that. 

In Pain

As I wrote yesterday, I tried out a new aerobic class at the gym. It was a great class, that is, if you don’t get embarrassed by being out of sync with rest of the class. However, it was an intense class and all the muscles, including my neck muscles (don’t ask me why and how), have been hurting since morning. I was so tired yesterday that I passed out slept at 8 last night and woke up at 7 this morning. And then I had to be in a class the whole day today.

For future reference, if you want to try out a physical activity, don’t do it before a day-long class. Its physically painful to sit the whole day long if every muscle in your body is hurting. And it is very difficult to concentrate when you are in pain. Just saying…

P.S.: As you could have guessed, I ditched the second activity of the day. For once, I am glad I did.

To go or not to go...

The age old question. oh well , at least its almost as old as my age. Being an introvert, every time I see something I want to do, meetings I want to attend I go through this anxiety phase just before the event, whether or not I should go. Usually I am happier if I do end up attending but I have bailed out of few of them as well. 

Why am I writing this. Well today, I am planning to try out two new things. First one starts in 57 minutes and I am at desk getting anxious by the minute. Its a Total Body conditioning (aerobics plus strength) class in the office gym at 11:15. I have been planning on attending one since beginning of new year (New year resolution) but have been a bit busy with meetings and courses etc. Today, I don't have anything so I can attend the class but.... I am not sure how hard it will be or whether I would be able to keep up. Not that I am in a bad physical shape at the moment but still getting embarrassed in front of your colleagues/ co-workers/managers is a whole new territory. 

The second thing that I will be attending today is a bike workshop in the evening. I want to get my bike back in shape so that I can ride it to office and take it out on weekends, now that weather is getting better. But I again will be in a new territory and am not sure how well I can handle to anxiety phases in a day. So wish me luck. I will let you know how it went (and whether or not, it went) tomorrow.

P.S.: Yes, you read it right. We have a (actually two) fully functional gym at office. We have about 25-30 classes per week in the aerobic studio including cardio, yoga, Tai-chi, kick boxing etc. We also have cycling studio as well as full set of gym equipments including weights, treadmill-s (as in multiples: as in more than 5), cycle-s, elliptor-s, stair masters and a nice work out area (apart from the aerobic and cycling studio) in each gym. We have 4-5 personal trainers to help us out (as in identify the weak areas and design an exercise regime to focus on them) plus the instructors for all the different classes. The cherry on the top is that all this is free! The only thing they ask is that you should be in one of the gym at least once in two months. Do you envy me now? 

India

Recently, a lot of people around me have been talking about green cards, citizenship etc. I guess I am now at that stage of life when one thinks about that kind of stuff. However, I am not sure that I want to give up my Indian citizenship. I guess I am getting nostalgic, patriotic or may be, plain crazy. True that I have to deal with a lot of paper works, a lot of scrutiny for holding the Indian passport, yet that passport with all its three lion and slogan of “Satyameva Jayte (Truth alone triumphs)” is part of my identity. It feels weird to even think about giving that up.

There are a lot of things wrong with India but there are few things that do make me proud to be Indian. I have been making this mental list for past month or so:

1. Our national motto “Satyameva Jayate”, unlike America’s “God Bless America”, is far more representative of me as a person. The latter will never represent me. I am an agnostic-atheist. If I don’t believe in God, then how can the phrase “God bless America” will ever be representative of me? “Satyameva Jayate”, on the other hand, is above such insinuation. Despite it being a Sanskrit phrase, it doesn’t allude to any “God” but simply state the fact that Truth alone triumphs.

2. We don’t teach our children religious scriptures as a fact of science. Evolution is a scientific fact, not creationism. If someone in India ever proposed to introduce intelligent design in science curriculum, he or she would be laughed at. That school will never make any money (that’s what the school are these days: business units). It’s an unthinkable thing in India. Science and religion just don’t mix.

3. Science and religion don’t mix (I know I said that earlier). This is a very important differentiation in our society. We don’t challenge science based on religious scripture. We, as a society, are and have always been very accepting of sciences, which is very unusual for a society. I never realized this fact when I was in India.

4. Our educational system is one of the best. Okay, the public school system is not as good but still the curriculum we follow, is far better than any other system I have seen so far. I am not talking about the competitions, entrance exams etc. but the regular school education. Western education system makes kid smart: they can talk publicly, they are smart, and all that, but they lack substance. The basics, the fundamentals that are laid in our school system is way stronger than what they teach here.

5. The interest rates in India are much better than anything they are giving here. I know its matter of time and once the recession is over, the interest rates will go up in US as well but it still tempts me to keep my Indian citizenship.

To end the post:

P.S.: 1. May be I am just a bit homesick. Haven’t been to India for 3.5 years. Guess its high time I pay a visit. That will cure my craziness about not giving up Indian citizenship…

2. The song is there simply because I love Arvind Swamy and this post kind of reminded me of this song..

My Complains

This post has been in making for a long time. But somehow, the format never seemed right. I started this post as a note of things I think are bad parenting techniques but somehow couldn’t make myself criticize others unless I have been in their shoes. All of us can say what’s good or bad from a vantage point but being in that position might be very different. Like this video (which BTW is a disclaimer for this post):

However, having said that, I still have a list of complains for my “parent-friends”:

1. I don’t care what you let your kids do to your phones, cameras, iPods, etc, but please don’t expect me to give my cell phone, camera, iPod etc to your kids because they are crying for it. Don’t give me that accusatory look when I refuse to give my stuff to them. They are your kids, not mine. I am not letting them spoil my expensive gadgets for their amusement.

2. I don’t care how your kids behave with you but I don’t like when your kids hit me with their toys (metallic cars or whatever other toy they have). It hurts. And all this because I refuse to let them have my gadgets? And if you won’t stop them then I will. When I made friends with you, I didn’t sign up for getting hit by your kids. Also, in my world kids are not allowed to hit adults.

3. You might be ready to treat your kids as friends but don’t expect me to treat them as my friends. I view them as spoiled brats they are. And I don’t like spoiled brats. I don’t find them cute or adorable. Its not cute when your kids tell me to get out. I take it as insult and unless they apologize, I am not visiting you again.

4. Being friends with you doesn’t automatically means that I have to take care of your kids too. If you insist on bringing your kid along on a trip, which was supposed to be, say a photographic trip, then I will not run around your kids instead of taking pictures. They are not my responsibility. Why am I supposed to assume their responsibility? If I wanted that responsibility, I would have had my own kids. And no, I am not giving my expensive camera to them to calm them down. What if they throw it down in their rage? Will you replace it?

5. You can keep your house as dirty or as clean as you want but if you are visiting my place, please control your kids. I don’t want to loose my security deposit just because your kids don’t know the meaning of cleanliness. Do you still wonder why haven’t I invited you to my place ever since your kid was born?

Don’t take me wrong. I love kids. I just can’t stand spoiled brats. I don’t understand the recent trend of letting kids do whatever they want. May be someone can explain it to me?

Redefining Rape

 

Rape is only really rape if it involves force.

So if someone is drugged and raped, its not a rape. In case of incest, it will be considered rape only when the victim is younger than 18 years. If a 13 year old girl with limited sex education is raped by a pedophile, its not a rape.

No, you got it wrong, I am not talking about a new Taliban regime or a middle-eastern country. This is a new bill being discussed in US! And that’s not all. All this is done in the name of, wait for it, religion. But for once, the religion in question is not Islam but Christianity. How you ask?

In US, there is a big debate between pro-choice and pro-life. The center issue being  right of women for abortion. Pro-choicers say that it’s a woman’s body and hence, her choice while pro-lifers say that we must protect the sanctity of life (to hell with woman’s right or whether she is capable of raising a child).

Okay, I agree that not all pro-lifers are necessarily religious fanatics but all the religious fanatics are pro-lifers and hence, my point about pro-life being more a religious thing. Coming from India, I always found this debate ridiculous. With female feticide on rampage in the home country, I never thought I will ever be for an abortion. But listening to all these religious fanatics go on and on about the sanctity of life (never mind the current world population explosion), I am turning into a pro-choicer. But I digress.

So one of those extreme right house representative (they are in majority now) in US has come up with this new bill, in order to impose the pro-life. It’s called “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion”.

At the moment the insurance companies can reimburse for the abortion only if the woman was raped or if she is in physical danger due to delivery or pregnancy. However, the pro-lifers are now pushing for this new bill in which they can only pay if the woman was “forcibly” raped.

Basically, she should be able to prove that she was raped and it was the violent kind. If not, then may be she consented to being raped, right? According to Wikipedia:

In criminal law, rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse against another person without that person's consent.

One of the conservatives is quoted by Time magazine saying:

"And while we're at it, you know what really burns me up? All of those women getting abortions paid for by Medicaid and saying they were raped. I bet they weren't even really raped."

Rape is one of the most under-reported crime, even in US. And this moron wants the one who do report it, should be put on the stand and prove that they were “forcibly” raped. And all this just because they think woman’s body is only an instrument used to bear babies and she should not have choice in it?

P.S.: 1. Its been a long time since I have been outraged so much. Well, seems like conservatives have the majority again.

2. A sample of pro-life religious fanatics.

Crazy..

..thats what I have come to call the weather in Houston, TX. If you don't believe me, then have a look at this  week's forecast:

(Credit: A snapshot from the weather channel website)

The lowest temperature is going to drop from 17 C to -6 C in 24 hours! Crazy, I tell you. 

Its not that I can't take the cold, or heat for that matter, I just can't seem to adjust to these temperature fluctuations. By the time I get accustomed to the cold, I will be again sweating. By the time I adjust to that, I will be again shivering. Simply crazy. I can take extreme weather conditions but this fluctuation from one extreme to the other is driving me completely nuts. 

P.S.: This is just one example. The temperatures have been fluctuating like crazy the entire winter. 

Character

So I just got an email from NaBloPoMo. They have an interesting theme for February. To quote them:

Greetings, bloggers! The theme for February blogging is CHARACTER. It's a flexible theme, allowing you to blog about all sorts of things:

 1. The people in your life who stand out in regard to their outstanding (or lack of) character -- the use of pseudonyms might be prudent here;

2. Experiences in your life that have helped you build moral character, and the work you might still need to do;

3. It's a chance to try writing in character -- try on different personas and voices for fun, or to address things you might not normally talk about;

4. Character is another word for a letter or symbol, if you feel like it's finally time to indulge in some font nerdery.

I think its an interesting theme. Don't worry I am not going to do a NaBloPoMo again, especially with the way quality of my posts deteriorated last time I attempted it (December, 2010). But I can work with theme. I can produce a post or two on the subject matter. How about you? Think its an interesting topic? Want to attempt something? 

Revised view

I have often said that a good photographer can take good picture with simplest of the cameras. Photography is an art while camera is a tool. It helps to have good tools but again an artist can make a piece of art with limited tools as well. A great example is this project by Mindy in which she uses her iPhone to take the pictures.

I just want to add the vice-versa. With D-SLR becoming affordable and people becoming aware of their existence, they are buying them left, right and center. They take pictures with those D-SLR and upload them on, where else, FB. After going through numerous such albums, I think its time for me to state the obvious vice-versa: Having a good camera doesn't automatically make you a good photographer. Again Photography is an art. Unless you have an eye for the art, you can't take good photographs. Expensive cameras can't teach you the art of photography and composition.

P.S.: Pardon my outburst. I certainly don't mean to discourage budding photographers. I just went through another album where people have tried using the D-SLR to take pictures without thinking about lighting, composition, positioning etc. It was a torture to go through it. Out of the 73 photographs in the album, there was only one that I could honestly say was a bearable photograph. I think it was sheer luck instead of any thinking on the part of the photographer. It just got to my nerves eventually. 

Scary

Spoiler Alert


I just finished Män som hatar kvinno (Men Who Hate Women), or as we know it, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. It’s a thriller with the violence against women as its central theme. I think its Swedish title, aka, Men Who Hate Women is more appropriate than the English one.

The main story, or rather the story that occupies the majority of pages in the book is about a murder/disappearance investigation of a 16 year old girl, Harriet Vanger, who disappeared without a trace in 1966 under mysterious circumstances. Her great uncle, Hernik Vagner, a leading industrialist of his time, is certain that she was murdered by one of the family member. He hires a journalist, actually a financial journalist (don’t ask the logic behind that one), Mikael Blomkvist to investigate the case after 37 years. Mikael unravels a well hidden family secret involving serial killers during his investigation and is finally able to figure out what happened to Harriet on that fateful day.

Yet another central character of the novel is Lisbeth Salander, who is a genius private investigator. The book alternate between Mikael’s and Lisbeth’s perspective of the events around them.

The book is certainly a page turner and is worth reading. However, I found the book to be a bit disturbing. The details of the violence against some of central female characters were particularly revolting, which I guess, was the writer’s intention. It was a bit unnerving to read through some parts of the book and I had to put it down for a while before I could read again.

I think the reason it affected me so is that I can’t put it pigeonhole it as “work of fiction”, or something that never happens in real life and move on. I know for certain that each and every incident described in the book can be and has been happening in the real world. That’s what, I think, is the scariest part of the book.

I think I need to take a break before I start the second book in the series, The Girl Who Played with Fire. I am scared enough for next few weeks..

The Corrupt World

Don't ask me how (I think I was looking up something on economy), but I landed up on this map of corruption perception index. I was amazed to see how few countries are actually non-corrupt in this world. I really never realized how widespread the corruption really is. It was an eye opener for me. No wonder people keep crying end of the world.

How about you? Did you know that we lived in such a corrupt world?

 Map of Corruption Perception Index. Red are corrupt while blues are non-corrupt countries. Click to enlarge. (Source: Wikipedia)

Ophiuchus

Did you hear about the 13th Zodiac sign? Ophiuchus. So apparently if you were born between November 29th and December 17th, you are no longer a Sagittarius but an Ophiuchus! Guess who just became an Ophiuchus? Yep, you got it. From this morning yours truly is no longer a Sagittarius but an Ophiuchus. I knew I was different but so different that they had to create a 13th zodiac sign to explain! Who knew?

Ophiuchus 

(Image from : http://www.squidoo.com/ophiuchus)

Any other Ophiuchus out there? May be we can get together and plan world domination or something?

P.S.: Does any one know the characteristics of an Ophiuchus so that I can start behaving like one?

Saturday Shot: San Francisco

Title: Foggy Morning

Location: San Francisco, CA

Date: 2010

I don’t agree

…with most of the things said here (its an HT article about how NRI behave when they visit India). At least, I don’t behave in that way. And I am sure quite a few of you don’t either. Let’s go through the list, shall we?

1. They come with bags of foodstuff for themselves: Why in the world would we carry foodstuff to India for ourselves? Honestly? I want to eat at home and eat proper Indian food for once. I do carry chocolates for friends and families but that’s about it.

2. They want to eat. ALL the time: Whenever I visit India, I make all kind of excuses to not visit and eat at all the neighborhood aunties. I usually leave with a lot unsatisfied and angry aunties in my wake. Yes, there are few things that my mom make that I like to eat but gosh, I never eat all of it or all the time. Also don’t you think it contradicts the with first point?

3. They complain about the prices of EVERYTHING: Okay, I haven’t been to India recently, but don’t Indians living India also complaining about the same thing? We are undergoing inflation big time at the moment. But even then, I can never complain about prices in India after the prices I pay in US.

4. They’ve got weird accents:  To start with, I always had a weird accent. It might have gotten weirder over the years but then as far as I know Indians in India have an accent too. And if everyone has got an accent why are they complaining?

5. They want to shop. ALL the time: Yeah, the prices are so low, who wouldn’t? I think its an innate Indianess in all of us that we look for the cheapest deals and prices. So if we do shop in India, what’s the big deal?

6. They come with their dirty clothes: The only dirty clothes I have carried over the years are my precious saris for dry-cleaning. And that’s because I don’t trust the dry-cleaners here to understand Indian clothes and embroideries to take care of them. Not because of the price but the care. What if I do take a chance  and they ruin it for me. And its not like I am asking any of my relatives to do it for me, or pay the dry-cleaning for me.

7. You realise they know more Hindi songs than you: Well I don’t. I have no idea about latest bollywood news. BTW, don’t the Indians in India know about latest Hollywood or English albums?

8. They think India is just a stage for a wedding: Yikes! I hate weddings.

9. Their weddings mean more work for YOU: Never gonna happen. Even if I do get married, it will be a court marriage. And please, I request all those Indians in India not to complain about the lack of ceremony.

10. They want homely, same caste Indian brides and grooms: Huh? Okay dude you have seriously backward relatives.

11. They come with cheap stuff you’ll never use: Again, no idea what you are talking about? I will never buy cheap stuff as present. I will never give anything to anyone unless I use the same brand and stuff myself. But then, may be people in India are more brand conscious than I am.

12. They get ultra nostalgic – and traditional – at weddings: Hate weddings, remember?

13. They don’t want to go malls, just bazaars: Oh well, you must be talking about metropolitans where they do have malls. I don’t think the small towns, like yours truly’s, have malls yet. But then when do big city people think about how the rest of India functions? If they have it in big cities, the entire India has it, right?

14. They complain about the weather: You should visit Southern California someday dude, and then we will see who complains about the weather. They have temperatures of 45-50 C there (spent a summer there with no ac in the car). You see, not all of us have luxury of living in New York. Some of us do live in part of US where the weather is worse than India.

15. They’re bringing us less chocolate than usual (thanks to the recession): I haven’t been to India, thanks to the recession. I haven’t seen my family for three years, thanks to the recession. I have been homesick for past two years, thanks to the recession. I have friends who are out of job for six months, thanks to the recession. And you are complaining about chocolates?

16. They complain about how India’s getting more crowded, hotter and dustier, even if they’ve NEVER lived here:  Oh I never complain about the crowd or heat or dust in India. I do complain about the daily molestation going on Indian street and no matter how much we progress economically, I don’t see that going away.And when I do complain about it, I am the one who gets blamed for attracting attention of such people. As if its my fault.

17. Just when you think it’s safe, they come back for good:  Never gonna happen. I can’t live through that daily torture of being blamed for being a victim. Not when I now know its not my fault and there is a better way of life out here.

18. They think they have all the solutions to Indian problems: Nope I don’t. I think the reason I am an NRI is because I am running from all the problems we have in India. True, they have some problems in every society but I think I can face these problems because, at least, I am not blamed for being a victim here.

19. They are more Indian than Indians (they’re like Indians in the 12th century): Again, dude, you have weird relatives.

20. They behave like tourists in their home town: Huh? Okay, I no longer eat ghee (I can’t digest it anymore), but olive oil? I go back to all my old haunts including the punjabi dhaba next to the bus-stand. Yes, I have upset stomach all the time I am there but its totally worth it.

P.S.: One day, I am going to write a post about how Indians in big cities assume so many things about rest of the India. Not all of Indians come from Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Hyderabad, or Bangalore. And not everything that you find in these cities is true for the rest of India.

About Sleep

I learned a new word today: Hypersomnia. It refers to the disorder characterized by excessive amount of sleepiness. By raise of hands, how many of you feel that you are hypersomniac? I certainly feel like one.

P.S.: 1. Its a real disorder and can lead to brain damage. I am certain none of us have it, its just my love for sleeping makes me feel like one.


2. I should add that I wrote this post early in the morning (6:30 AM) from work. Hence, the shortness and the subject of the post. 

Test Driving

..that’s what I have been doing for past few days. Yes, I am finally replacing my first ever car, my dearest friend a 1993 Toyota Corolla. So I have been shopping around.

I guess I should put the disclaimer right here that I am not a very car loving person. I actually hate driving and do it more due to necessity than anything else. Oh ok, I also like the freedom and independence it gives me but still not loving the driving or the car. So this is a chore I have been postponing for a long time.

I was also scared of those hagglers called car salesman. But I finally plunged in. I have been around quite a few dealerships and read a lot about different cars before entering the dealerships. I can actually quote the generation and features introduced with each generation for all the cars I test drove which includes Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Toyota Corolla and Toyota Rav4.

I test drove, I discussed deals, I got the information and then gave them the dose of  “I have to talk to my fiancé” and walked out. In a manner, I used to my advantage the belief of the other sex in my sex’s lack of car knowledge and inability to take decision in these matters. I am not sure what I did was right or wrong but it certainly was haggle free. I know I had to act like all those women whom I despise but somehow I don’t feel guilty. I am simply relieved.

Am I doing something despicable? Should I feel guilty?

Saturday Shot: Christmas

Title: I won’t smile

Location: Baton Rouge, LA

Date: December 25, 2010

Fat Phobia

“Can I have a packet of juice?” three year old asked his parents.

“No, you already had one. That’s all.” Replied the parents.

“Please, can I have one more?” asked the kid again.

Mom melted and said, “okay”. Dad didn’t like that and told the three year old that he will become fat (accompanied by the hand gesture showing him how fat he will become).

I was speechless. An extra packet of juice! And that too a 3 year old who, btw, don’t show any sign of obesity. I mean, I understand if parents want to restrict food intake for kids with health problems but this was utterly and hugely disgusting.

I don’t even know where to start. It was a pack of juice, not even ice-cream or cake! He is three years old and very active kid. He burns off more calories during his daily activity (which is running around 10-12 hours a day) than we adults ever can. He is a growing child. And it’s a pack of juice!

Worst of it all: they are inducing a good amount of fat-phobia in him. That’s exactly what the dad told us when some of other protested about his behavior: “Just inducing the fear of overeating in him. Its good for him”.

In a child who doesn’t need that fear in him, he is introducing it. What they are really introducing to him is called fat-hatred. I simply cringe at the thought of the kind of person he would be when he grows up, unless he somehow outgrows his family’s influence. I hope, he does.

P.S.: The couple are big time fat-phobic people. They once told me that I need to loose weight (and become stick figures like them). And then they ask me why I haven’t contacted them in past 3 months I have been here.

They were also one of those people who attacked me because I became good friend with someone who is obese. Actually whenever I mention anything about her, their first comment is usually: “She is so fat”. They are not interested in anything else, I guess. It doesn’t matter that she is far better person than any of them.

In case you haven’t heard…

A beauty queen who has brains, who stands for what she believes in and who is actually doing something good instead of talking about “world peace”.

Link via @ Joe

Next Life

So the other day I was talking to a friend and she mentioned a game going around in her circle. The game is basically to answer a question: Who do they want to be in their next life? (The question already assumes the validity of next life existence and all that.)

So she asked me the same question. Who would I want to be in the next life? The first answer that popped into my head was: someone normal, doing normal things. You know someone who blends in and is not different.

Her next question was so you want to be T. Now T is an acquaintance whom I despise. But by all standards she is one of the most normal, conforming person I know. She got married when she was 25. She had a kid when she was 29. She has a career and family. She never had any parental or childhood or any kind of issues. EVER.  She is not bothered by what’s going on in the world, she has no inkling about the latest news. But then she also don’t have any common sense or sense of humor.

So yeah, may be like her but with a bit more common sense and sense of humor. “But then isn’t that the catch?” My friend asked. “As soon as you have common sense and sense of humor you are no longer normal. You don’t conform. You don’t fit in.”

She has a point, doesn’t she? What do you think? Does having common sense sets you apart from the crowd?

And what would you want to be in next life?

P.S.: 1. If you are wondering, I went to a desi party on new year and was surrounded by the typical normal desis. I felt really out of place which explains my answer the next day.

2. The most asked questions in the party were:

• So your husband work in which oil company? (Houston is the world’s oil capital, hence the assumption about oil company).
• You are not married! Are you engaged?
• You live alone and you cook everyday?

Not that I was surprised by the question, just out of place.

Resolution Time

Its that time of year again: Time to make resolutions and hope to change to a better way of living. And every year, after few days, or few weeks, or few months these resolutions are either broken or completely forgotten. So this year, in an effort to remember and follow my resolution, I have decided to put quantative resolutions instead of qualitative. I mean, I am going to put a number and quantity with each resolution. I hope it will help me follow the resolutions better. So here it goes:

- Drink less soda. Last year saw a drastic increase in my soda intake. I attributed that to anxiety and stress associated with finishing the Phd and then with moving. But its time for me to quit.

I am going to limit my number of sodas to once a week unless there is an all-week long meeting or course. In that case I would need something to keep me awake and motivated.

- Exercise better. Again last year saw a major decline in my exercise routine. Even though I have been exercising for past 2 months or so, I haven’t been doing as much as I used to.

I am going to include some aerobics in my routine: 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes each. Continue with my strength training with 2-3 times a week and no matter what, do stretching 6-7 times a week.

- Eat healthier. Again I have been good about it for past couple of weeks but I still need to improve.

I am going to limit my intake of Maggi to once a week. I will not eat out more than once a week unless, of course, I am in a meeting and I don’t have a choice. I will not skip breakfast on weekends.

- Read more. I do like to read but am no reading buff. Lately, I haven’t been reading much, even though I have now transitioned to job life which means no more work at home..

This year I will read at least 2 books per month. I would need to make a list of book I want to read. This month, I am going to read “The girl with the dragon tattoo” and “Lord of the ring”. I have had both books for a while and have been wanting to read both of them.

- Be more social. I am a social-phobe. Unless I am very close to someone, I usually back out from going to parties, meeting people, and generally being social.

This year I will call up friends more frequently. Saturdays are for friends. I will call at least one of my friend every Saturday and talk to them, and if possible, meet them.

- Call home. I have been very bad about it past year. Again PhD and moving but I can’t use that excuse now.

So am going to call home more frequently: at least twice a week.

- Read scientific journals. I know I should to keep at breast with latest research but guess what, I don’t.

So I will read at least two of the most popular journal, whenever they are published. And actually read the papers and just not the abstracts (this will be the first of the resolution I will break, I know it). I will also start attending monthly Special Interest Group meetings. Its always good to be part of a scientific network.

- Blog regularly.

I promise to post 15 posts every month but I also promise that I will not write a post for sake of writing a post but I will only post when I have something significant to say. So no more NaBloPoMo but I will still post regularly. Also I will log on to my Facebook account associated with the blog more regularly.

- Take more photos. 2010 has been kind of slow year for photography except for the times I visited some places. I need to be more regular about taking pictures and not restrict myself to the times when I visit some place nice.

I will get out and explore Texas. Enough of moping and criticizing. I agree landscape and culture are completely different but that adds another dimension to photography, doesn’t it? So from now on, I will go around every other weekend and explore the area I live in.

 

I guess that’s about it. I don’t know how many of these resolutions I am going to keep, but at least now I do know things I feel guilty about. That’s a good start. Acceptance is the first step towards the change..

Saturday Shot: Diptych

Title: Cycle of Life

Location: Texas, US

Date: 2010

Adios

Dearest 2010

You have been very nice to me and I want to thank you. You are one of the most special years in my life. During your reign, I finally fulfilled my long time (in fact, longest time) dream of earning a PhD. Ever since I came to know about PhD (at the age of three) accompanied by the fact that my Dad already had one, I dreamt of earning one. However, during the course of my journey to PhD, I almost quit the voyage. during those dark times I thought I will never fulfill this dream. So you see, I will always treasure you as the year I fulfilled my dream and finally, finally, earned my PhD. I will be always grateful to you for that.

I know not many people will thank you as your reign also saw a bad economic recession and a high unemployment rate, so it becomes even more important for me to remind you that not all of us hate you. I will always remember and cherish you.

Sincerely yours

Richa

My vote

Asian Window is asking me to choose between Munni or Sheila for the favourite item number.

Munni

Sheila

After watching both the videos I have decided to vote for Waka Waka instead. Mind you, I am not a big fan of Western music but if you are looking for the item number of 2010, I think Shakira in Waka Waka takes the prize. Don’t you think? I mean just watch her move (for whatever small time window she does move).

Waka Waka

A Christmas Story

Oh yes, the apologies first. I disappeared but guess what, I had a great Christmas weekend. Even you can’t make me feel guilty at the moment so stop trying.

What did I do for Christmas, you ask? Well I went to Baton Rouge and New Orleans (both in state of Louisiana) to visit my best friend and her family. Before I plunge into my ramblings, I should tell you that she and her family are originally from New Orleans, actually they are from the area that was destroyed by hurricane Katrina in 2005. The neighborhood still bears the mark of that catastrophe, so does their family. Oh yes, also they are not Indian. None of this is important for my rambling but a little background doesn’t hurt, does it? Specially when it hung over my conscious (hurricane Katrina, not the Indian part).

The best part of the Christmas was, of course, the kids (her two daughters) and their excitement on the Christmas morning. The second best thing was meeting her extended family. If you have seen the movie ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ you might have some idea what I am talking about. If not, then may be you have seen a big family gathered together during a wedding or some other ceremony. As for me, they reminded me of my Nani’s (maternal grandmother) house as it used to be when we were kids. All the chattering, screaming, gossiping, joking and teasing, along with lots and lots of food.

We reached there at meal time (I can’t tell you whether it was dinner or lunch, just that we ate). And as I have seen time and again in our own India, all the women were in kitchen, heating everything up, serving the plates for kids, elderly and men, while the rest of them (kids, elderly and men) sat around, chatted, joked and laughed. Finally, women also sat down and ate.

The surprise came after the meal. Now there were men all around, cleaning up, taking out the trash, brooming and sweeping, disinfecting, folding tables, cleaning dishes while women sat around, chatted, joked and laughed. All of this was automatic. As if it was the most natural thing. As if it wasn’t a big deal. That was only thing that made me realize that this was an entirely different culture. Wish we had that in our family.

The worst part of this Christmas was, of course, saying goodbyes on Sunday and the drive back. The second worst thing, well I wouldn’t call it bad, just disturbing: for the first time in my life I met someone with Alzheimer's disease. A sweet, old lady, and soft spoken too, except she was not making any sense. She had no idea what any of us were talking about, though she wanted to participate in the conversation. But as she couldn’t make head or tails of our conversation, she became progressively agitated and confused. It was pretty sad but there was nothing any of us could do to help her. Honestly, if this ever happens to me, I would prefer euthanasia. I know medically you are alive till your heart beats but personally I believe that life ends when brain ends. What’s the point of life when you are not you anymore? That reminds me, I have to get a living will done. Perhaps, I will put it in 2011 resolution list.

All in all, it was a great weekend. It was worth 12 hours of driving with shoulder pain and bad traffic.
Hope you guys had a great Christmas as well.


P.S.: I hope this post covers for my absence for past few days. It is a long post, after all.

Addicted

I knew it will come to that one day though I confess I didn’t think it will be now. What am I talking about? The internet addiction recovery program. I kid you not. There is now a company, reSTART, that offer rehabilitation program for internet addiction. I checked the common symptoms and it seems I am not addicted or may be I am in denial. How about you?

P.S.: Been sick for past two days and hence no post. Going to Louisiana for Christmas so most probably won’t be able to post again. Not sure how much internet connectivity will I have. So if you don’t hear from me: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Stuck in my head…

…and my iPod. I usually have problem moving to other song once my iPod reached this song. So I had it on repeat for the whole day. Even though I haven’t heard it for past few hours now, I still can’t stop humming it. Needless to say, I am absolutely in love with this song. Although you have to stop watching the video to enjoy this song completely..

Do you have any such song that you simply can’t let go off?

The Zoo

Ever since I moved to Texas, I haven’t gone out to take pictures. Yesterday I broke that spell and went to the zoo. Well, they (the zoo) had their first “photography day” yesterday. Unfortunately for us, the weather wasn’t very cooperative yesterday. It was freezing out there and hence almost all the animals were quite inactive. The cloudy morning was yet another drawback. Still I did manage to get some nice shots (at least I like them). Here are few, the ones I have manage to post process so far. Let me know what you think:

Title: Playful

 

Title: Watchful

 

Title: Camouflage

Will post on my photoblog, that is if you are interested.

Saturday Shot: Fossil

Title: Fish

Location: Rajasthan, India

Date: 2003

Sexism in Advertisement

I was browsing around when I came across this one:

What do you think?

Burned or Buried?

Well the actual question was:

“What do you think happens after we die?”

But my thought train took a wrong turn and I instead ended up thinking about funeral costs and funeral services and such nonsense. But during all this thought process I realize how unique background I come from. Most of the world, that is most of cultures around the world, bury their dead while our culture, or more precisely Hinduism, insist on burning them.

Before you jump the gun and start defending either method, I am not writing this post to discuss the philosophy or religion. I am just wondering that if given a choice, would you liked to be buried or burned after death? Would you like to have a grave site which your loved ones can visit  and grieve, miss you and carry out imaginary conversations; or would you like to be burned and have your ashes thrown in a river so that they can, or rather should, move on with their lives?

The first answer that pops in my head is obviously, being cremated. But that’s simply because I don’t want my loved ones to grieve for me. Actually I don’t want my loved ones to grieve. Period. Its worse if I am the reason. But does my desire of them moving on, really help with their grief? Isn’t it equivalent of me telling them to internalize their pain and pretend to be normal and happy? Is that what I really want? But does having a place to grieve and remember help them with the grieving process? I think so.

My favorite uncle passed away an year and half ago. I didn’t attend his funeral. Hell, I was told 2 days after his funeral. I cried, I grieved, I felt awful but I didn’t find closure. He was a photographer and I bought a D-SLR camera for him as a surprise gift. I never told him that. He never knew about the camera. He would have loved it. I still have that feeling of unfinished business. I don’t have closure. I never got to say goodbye and I really wish there was a grave, a place where I could go, pay my respects and say goodbye.

What do you think? Do you want to be burned or buried? As for me, I think I would like all my loved ones to be buried so that I can go there and be with them but I should be cremated. Sounds selfish, isn’t it? May be a bit hypocritical too but I really don’t want them to cry for me.

Just a thought train…

Laser Light Painting

I got my new green laser pointer today. What did I do? I did this:

How I did it? Well, the procedure is described here. People do amazing stuff with laser pointers. May be some day, I will do something cool like that but this was my first attempt. You know, first experiments. These simply show the enthusiasm of getting a new toy to play with…

Give a damn

Pardon my language, but that’s the name of this campaign: we give a damn. It’s about workplace discrimination, hate crimes, bullying at school, suicide and such issues faced by gay community. They have a heap of advertisements but I particularly like this one:

Give a Damn

They are adorable.

And yes, I give a damn, if you pardon my language. Hope you do too…

Link via Joe my God

FOB

“Where are you from?”

That was the first thing she asked me. I was putting my bag down in the seat next to her. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a long kurta. So yes, that was the first thing I registered about her: she is Indian or rather, from Indian subcontinent, but I didn’t expect the question. The first thing, even before a courtesy smile, even before our eyes met. I wasn’t even looking at her. I didn’t or rather couldn’t respond immediately, instead I looked at her and she repeated the question:

“Where are you from?”

“India”

“Oh”

She was taken aback. A moment later she added:

“I am from Pakistan.”

I gave her a small smile not because it made a difference to me but because it did to her. After a moment’s pause, she sprung the next question:

“Are you a Geologist?”

“No, Geophysicist.”

Now she was completely disappointed. I made an excuse and walked outside knowing full well that I will be sitting next to her for next five days. Isn’t life peachy?

P.S.: 1. In her defense, I later learnt that this is her first time outside Pakistan, so I think her shock of meeting a person from India is understandable, however, that doesn’t excuse her reaction to me being a geophysicist. Neither does it excuse her rudeness.

2. The difference between Geology and Geophysics is similar to the difference between Biology and Physics: they both fall under the subset of science, however they are very different from each other. More importantly, people who excel in one doesn’t usually excel in the other.

3. I am in a class this week (today was the first day. That’s where I met her). When I was three, my mom told me that Ph.D. is the highest degree one can earn and once you get that, you don’t have to go to classes anymore. She was so wrong.

One liners

Enjoy…

• My computer just beat me at chess…but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
• Slept like a baby last night…. Waking up every 3 hours crying for food.
• One day your prince will come. Mine just took a wrong turn, got lost and is too stubborn to ask for directions.
• Dance like no one’s going to put it on YouTube.
• Every day, man is making bigger and better fool-proof things, and every day, nature is making bigger and better fools. So far, I think nature is winning.
• I want to merge MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter and call it: MY FACE YOU TWIT.
• Don’t you find it funny that after Monday(M) and Tuesday(T), the rest of the week says WTF?
• I dream of a better world...where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned.
• If your relationship status says, "It's complicated", then you should stop kidding yourself and change it to "Single".
• Be nice to nerds, chances are you will be working for them.
• Have you ever had a fly or small bug land on your computer screen and your first reaction is to try and scare it with the cursor?
• Hi, my name is Damimeve. The 'mime' is silent.
• Do you know what really makes me smile? Facial muscles.
• I hear there is scientific proof that birthdays are good for you... the more you have the longer you live.
• I just read a list of 'the 100 things to do before you die'. I'm pretty surprised 'yell for help' wasn't one of them...
• TEIAM - problem solved.
• Top Tip Of The Week: When going through airport customs and you are asked "do you have any firearms with you?" do not reply "what do you need?"

Source: Link1, Link 2.

Saturday Shot

Title: Colors

Location: Stanford, CA

Date: 2008

Left vs. right?

So I was filling out the form to renew my passport. Answered all questions to best of my knowledge and, of course, I finally reached the end of the form where they ask to sign the declaration. You know where they ask you to swear the allegiance to India. At the end of all that declaration they ask you to sign or put your thumb expression. And right below that there was a statement in parentheses which is the reason for this post. It says:

Signature/ Thumb Impression of applicant

(Left Hand T.I. if male and right Hand T.I. if female)

Left hand for male and right hand for female? Why is that? I tried googling it and there are some very ridiculous explanation from “because those are the ones most used by each gender” (Really? Are they telling me that all the males are left handed and all the females right handed?) to “It is a government rule. Rules are rules. Can’t change it”.

Not a single proper reason why is that so. Does any one know? And how do they know if the thumb print is right hand’s or left hand’s?  I know its not a big deal and it doesn’t matter, I am just curious. 

P.S.: Yes I signed my allegiance to the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. Hopefully they will reissue my passport soon enough.

Something Nice

This post is inspired by PB’s post, Passport-Photobia.

So last Saturday I went to get my passport photo taken for getting my Indian passport renewed. My first stop was Walgreens who refused to take the photo as they supposedly can’t change the dimension of photo in their system (in California they did!) but they pointed me to a place where they do. You know, the place by the cemetery. I kid you not, the gates of cemetery and this “place” are almost adjacent. The reason I use the term place instead of studio is because it is a house (quite creepy, if I might add) and not a studio. You actually need to ring a bell and wait for someone to open the door.

Anyway, so finally it was time for me to get my picture taken. And here is the verbatim instructions from the photographer:

“Don’t smile but think about something nice.”

“Sit up straight and think about something nice.”

“Look at the camera while thinking about something nice.”

At this point I wanted to tell him that if he introduce me to Mr. Something Nice, it will be easier for me to think about him. As soon as this thought popped up in my head I almost smiled. However, unfortunately, I had a pretty bad mouth ulcer that day so the moment I started smiling, I winced and precisely at that moment the camera clicked. He took one look at the shot and went again:

“Think about something nice again. We will take 3 photos and then choose one. So look at the camera while thinking about something nice.”

Which resulted in some more wincing on my part. It took 10 minutes and I think about 15 shots before we could get a decent shot. With the amount of pain I endured in the process I am sure I have become passport-photobic. At least, I have been scarred for a long long time.

Is it just me?

Somedays I am okay. I am confortable, even confident, in my own skin. Then other days I loose all that. The funny statement that sounds funny in my head, doesn’t come out right and loose their pun in the process. My confidence level plummets and I just can’t carry myself well in the social circle on those days.

It usually happens when I among strangers or in some hostile situation but at times it is simply associated with my mood or simply the stress level in my life. I know all those things does affect one’s personality but does everyone else get affected like I do? Or is there something wrong with me? Do I overreact to stress and need a better way to manage my stress level? Or do I simply overanalyze my actions? Does anyone else faces this problem or is it just me?

P.S.: You guessed it. Last two days have been such two days. Hopefully it will get better with coming days.

My Problem…

(from: PhD comics)

P.S.: I can’t think of anything to write today.

Cultural Shock

Its been three months since I left my beloved California, or more precisely the bay area, and moved to Texas and yet, the cultural shock hasn’t worn off yet.

Like the other day, I was in Ikea and walked in a family arguing in one section. As I entered, they left except a man and a teenage girl who were still arguing. My back was towards them and all of sudden I heard a bang. I turned around to see the girl getting herself away from the walI while her arm was still twisted at the back. Before I could recover from shock they were gone. I can not forget the look on that girl’s face.

Then it happened again when I went to a Toyota dealership to get an oil changed for my car. I was sitting in the waiting area with other customers when I heard someone shout “F-A-G”, followed by some laughter. I looked up to see a group of employee (most probably car-salesmen) climbing down from the second floor to our floor, looking smug as if they just cracked the best joke ever. (I felt sick in stomach)

Never in my six years in the bay area have I encountered any thing that was even close. Now it seems like a daily occurrence. Did I mention I hate Texas?

Saturday Shots: Sunrise

                                                                                                                            (Click to enlarge)

Title: Scenic

Location: Lake Tahoe, CA

Date: 2008

Today’s Prompt…

…asks:

If you could erase one type of animal from the face of the earth, what would it be?

The first one on my list is human beings. How about you?

P.S.: 1. Do I need to explain the reasons for my choice?

2. Please don’t say cockroaches.

I have got issues

Dear fancy/sports car driver/owner

I understand that your expensive car comes with a powerful engine, great traction, amazing brakes. However, when you are trying to show off your car’s great capabilities to the rest of us by changing lanes at will and trying to squeeze in tight spots while cutting me off, you forget that unlike your car, my car or the car in front of you doesn’t have those powerful engines, amazing breaks, or great traction. So, you see even if your car can go from 0 to 100 mph and vice-versa in whatever seconds, my car or car in front of you can’t do that. Hence, there is a great chance that you will be in an accident and worse, you will hurt people like us when you have that accident.

And if by some miracle I am not hurt, I promise you I will cause you a lot more pain than those scratches on your car. Trust me on that.

Sincerely yours,
Me

I am doing it

NaBloPoMo, I mean. Whether I will succeed or not is yet to be seen.


I just spent two hours (at work) to get the documents sorted for applying for renewal of my passport (still Indian). Have I ever mentioned how much I hate paperwork associated with visa, passports and such things? Well, now you know. This, by far, is the worst one yet. For example, they have written in their instructions and FAQ that I need to attach three 3.5 cm x 3.5 cm passport size photograph. And when I printed out the form, it says 2" x 2" photograph. Can someone tell me which size photograph should I take? (I know both, just in case). I am utterly and completely frustrated at the moment. I hate paperwork.


Anyhoo, coming back to the NaBloPoMo. As usual, they have a writing prompt and today's writing prompt that says:


If you could stop your body from aging at any point in your life, what age would you want to stay at and why?


Really? I mean, I have always been told that I look young for my age. People usually don't believe when I tell them my age.  I can enlist the disadvantages of looking younger than you are (people doubting your "wisdom" is the most prominent one). Do you really think I want to look even younger than I am at any point in my life? I really doubt that. So I guess my answer would be: Thank you but no, thank you.


How about you? Do you want to stop your aging process?