'Indian'ism

'First woman of Indian origin dies in space', 'Man of Indian origin leads Harvard B-School', 'Professor of Indian origin wins Nobel Prize' - I know these are not new phrases.. They keep coming up now and then and we get excited about them for a day or two.. Whole Indian media is behind them blowing it up to himalayan proportions.. Not really bad to publicise them because stories of victory are always a boost for growing people..

But what are we actually doing ? Aren't we searching for the so called 'Indian'ism in every single thing we possibly can ? The above are just few examples.. There are a lot more Vinod Khosla, Vinod Dham etc..

Why are these people capable of creating history are of just Indian origin and not actually Indians.. The reason is we let them go.. In an interview with Mr.Narayanamurthy of Infosys tech, there was one honest point that came up.. We have to make our country attractive for these history makers to stay and work for India.. We are not short of resources compared to several European countries but why are we light years behind ?

Giving a thought about the core of this issue, its quite clear what has to be done? Invest in the future rather than investing in building real estates for MNCs.. Make things attractive intellectually and financially for people who have the vision to grow big.. Speaking about just the government doesn't round up things. Its the people, the ones I call 'History makers' has to contribute their part in making the future attractive for the next generation..

I know when you finish reading the last few lines there are many hands up in the crowd with questions of "What about the foreign investment they bring into India ?" and most of us are unaware of the fact that the so called "Big money" in Indian terms is actually peanuts !!

So the bottom line is lets make it attractive for the Kingpins to stay here and being a Kingpin one should have a feeling to take up his nation to the next level rather than buying 30 year old Russian jets :)

I'm leaving with a note and resolution that "Lets make the next generation read the newspapers about an Indian professor winning Nobel prize"..

Around the world in 10 mins..

Hello pals.. Nice meeting you after some time through this blog.. This one is not going to be heavy as the previous one as I ve been getting tagged into the league of some psychic directors who forget lighting in their movies !!

It was a saturday morning and the customary late mornings almost mid after-noon actually.. After a slow start took a casual stroll across the city centre.. If you are not well versed with the term "City centre" its actually the Ranganathan Street, Chandni Chowk or MG Road of every city in EEEEEnnnngggglundddd (That's how British pronounce England with their upper lips pointing to the heavens)..

Now the point here is not the pronounciation but few of my observations during that 10 min walk.. This is a developed country and there are as much minority population as the natives (Immigrants are called minority only for namesake 'cos they are equal in number to the natives mostly).. There were all kinds of shopping places which sells everything from Aston Martin cars to Colgate toothbrush..

As I started walking through the crowd, the first thing I noticed was a guy sitting with his dog nearby.. The striking feature was the citizen of a developed country was begging silently with his jacket spread wide open infront of him.. Not visibly handicapped he could have made something better out of his life but the thing I hated the most is that he even made the dog lazy like him !!

Passing on I came across a girl playing some sort of musical instrument for her living.. From looks and accent she could me located to eastern europe..

And I felt somebody dashing against me and passing on without even a word of apology.. In British culture invading other's personal space is quite a big crime that asks for a big apology letter.. Still there is no sign of them even turning back.. You guessed it right they are chinese and still haven't mentally come out of overcrowded China..

When I speak about population I can't place myself in any better position because India isn't too far behind.. But Desis (How Indians are fondly called abroad) seem to have the ability to pickup the culture of any place quite soon and the accent even sooner !!

Continuing my walk I came across an african gentleman in his business suits and was busy dealing some business on his phone even on a saturday after-noon..

And as all center of attraction there are no shortage of young people all around having fun.. Spring having set in people are out of their jackets and enjoying the warmth of the Sun..

Skateboarders, Kids, Dads with strollers, even Super-man and i-man were the characters I could come across in that short walk through the city centre..

And thats it folks I hope I didn't trouble you much into thinking and leaving with the thought of going around the world in 10 mins :)

Free Fall...

2009.. A roller-coaster ride wouldn't have so many ups and downs within such a short span.. Life threw me up into the skies and also deep into shit.. Its always tough to apply brakes when you experience free fall !! When something so important called "Life" goes into a free fall, you can do nothing more than falling..

But this free fall teaches a person more than what we see from the pinnacle of life.. When you go into one such thing, adrenalin rushes.. blood rushes to brain .. activates other senses.. but only a few manage to open their parachutes to land safely.. Most of them crash..

Science calls that entropy which is the level of disorder.. And disorder is ever increasing.. Somehow gathering energy to get things in order is not so easy because the whole universe is against you.. Yes its scientifically true that everything in the universe tend to go into disorder..

So coming back to the free-fall, my hands were searching for the pull-string.. I could see the ground approaching fast.. A roller coaster doesn't stay upside down for long.. Suddenly I could feel the strings in my hand.. Pulled it hard with the little energy left out.. When the parachute opens it was worth the pain encountered in free-fall.. Clouds get clearer and the horizon suddenly becomes visible.. 2010 has arrived and the same parachute which was a dead weight so far is taking me through a trip of life..

I understand the so called &%£"$%! in your mind.. 2010 - Free fall - Parachute - life how are they connected ?? Its just simple.. My friend always tell me "Accept life as it comes" and I would argue with her that "This is not I'm here for.. I'm here to fight and make my life"..

As a matter of fact both of us were right.. I fought hard to find the string that can save me from a crash.. But life gave me an experience of free-fall which I had to take it as it came..

One thing that the so called "Free-fall" is said to bring to your memory is somebody whom you really love, something very close to your heart and bla.. bla.. bla.. All I saw was just clouds.. clouds and clouds.. But beyond the clouds there is hard land where you wouldn't want to crash.. Wake up folks you may experience free-fall anytime.. Fight against it and believe me there's no one in this world without a parachute..

My first day in Europe..

It wasn't the best of starts when waiting at the Emirates check-in desk for a couple of hours to sort out a luggage issue.. and when finally I have to shell out 18K bucks for extra-luggage, adding to it the exhaustion of speaking for an hour to several representatives from the operator all sucked out the last bit of energy that I really wanted to crash into my seat to get a nap.. To keep you informed about the time its 3 am, Jan 2nd 2010 !!

Finally took off from Anna international airport 45 mins late heading to a possible delay for my transit at Dubai.. Dubai airport to me is a overpriced cherry over a dry pancake of arabian desert !! But never mind petro-dollars at work.. After getting half stripped at the security check at Dubai, we were packed up in bus taken for a distance that would easily be a couple of miles.. Finally to my relief, my flight to Birmingham (My first step in europe) was half empty and I had the luxury to use all the 3 seats near me to have a nap..

After 7 hrs of flight over the middle east, south and north eastern europe I finally woke up from a "DND" sleep.. Peeped out of the window and the first strange sight was long cast shadows at 12 noon !! It was quite strange for someone who has lived all his life close to equator.. First tuning of mind to local frequency...

It was a pleasant sunny day in a "not so busy" airport.. By the way its a pleasant and sunny day 'cos the temperature is 3 C at Shuttlesworth Intl., airport in Birmingham :) Coming out of the terminal after a long flight is a great feeling with fresh cold air filling your lungs.. There was this friendly bus driver who helped me cram my luggage into the luggage bins.. As expected there will be a "Desi" (Indian) in every corner of the world you can imagine and my bus wasn't an exception..

Long flight, freezing temperatures and cold winds in Birmingham took a toll on me.. Being exhausted and at the verge of my strength reached Cardiff.. Luckily had my friend to receive me at the bus station.. Had an invitation to watch ice-skating show on day 1 but my body wasn't up for it and was longing to get some sleep..

Went out for dinner to a nearby burger joint (The main staple food when I'm out of India).. I'm still tuning my mind for the different place.. But this place seemed to be a bit more lively than what I expected out of a simple european city.. May be 'cos of the life that college atmosphere creates.. Plenty of places for a night out and people hanging around even in the cold are the best possible relief 1000s of miles away from home..

Finally crashing on to bed I had this one feeling disturbing me " I never saw so many amazing picturesque buildings that always attracted me towards Europe !!" - probably the effect of Indian Cinema.. :)

Jerry - the name has something to it..

Who wouldn't love to watch sharp, quick and skill full intelligence.. I always admired the name that comes with this package.. Jerry as in "Tom n Jerry".. Since all of us knew there isn't much to discuss on this Jerry.. Then why the name Jerry to the title of this blog.. Its about Jerry junior - my ex-colleague's son in Taiwan.. This blog has been in mind so long that my colleague became ex-colleague now.. :)

I first met this cute 4 year old at Kaohsiung Metro station the largest city in Southern taiwan.. "Hi" with a huge wave when I didn't even see his dad and wasn't knowing who is this kid !! Fluent english from the kid and I told myself "East asia is atlast opening up in this generation to the world"..

"Hi my name is Jerry.. What is your name ?".. I'm Sree was the reply and since then till the end of the day he called me the same :) A typical 4 year old.. Has his fantasies towards Zoo, Ice creams and running back to his dad when he is injured in play..

But there's something that makes Jerry a little different.. "Where is Indo (The way chinese call India) ?" and the best possible answer I could give to a kid of his age is "On the other side of the sea ".. But what if the next question was " So u swam across the sea to taiwan ? ".. I didn't have an answer.. This kid finally falls out of the "stereotypic" asians whose minds are trained just to hear more than to listen..

So with that introduction, moving on to the day when I visited Kaohsiung.. It was supposed to be a boring day with a kid in zoo.. That was my first thought when I met Jerry with Jeremy (My colleague) and came to know I had an hour of train journey to visit a ZOO in the southern most happening city of taiwan !! But things changed with Jerry, our own cute little one who introduced probably every animal in the Zoo as they were his friends.. Somehow this kid feels he is not photogenic and never poses for a pic :)

The day went on so lovely and this little guy got so attached that he selected a couple of T-shirts for me during shopping :) Keep in mind that he is 4 yrs old and yet to attend school !! And as usual good things tend to end soon we were back at Kaohsiung metro station.. Wishing Jerry a bye but this so active, intelligent and smart kid was in tears.. Reason is probably missing his 24 yr old friend.. The most cherished day of my taiwan trip when I enjoyed being a kid with Jerry :)