R-Rated

Its been rather slow all through the winter with no new developments happening on the personal and professional fronts. Sure, Kirti made a trip here and we stayed at home for the best part of 2.5 days. Except for gaining weight steadily, I have not made any progress in gaining any additional knowledge about anything else. The keyword here being 'gaining'. The IPL has moved its base to South Africa for this year and God only knows how successful this time around the event's going to be. Knowing BCCI and all the money that's on the line, this year is going to be bigger and better. It probably would not have mattered to the BCCI if the IPL were to have happened in the Arctic Circle. BCCI will get richer by a few thousand crores and all franchise owners will recover their initial investments. Such a sorry state for the ICL which was a big flop this year. I did not hear any buzz from them (don't even know if it happened this season). I think its the economy that hit Subh...

The epicenter of terror has become its own victim. By attacking the Sri Lankan cricket team, Pakistan has proved that it is the terror capital of the world. No sane person including sane Pakistanis can talk about Pakistan being a safe place anymore. With the Islamic law okayed in the SWAT region and the Northwest Frontier Province being one of the deadliest war zones in the world, no place in Pakistan is safe anymore and the virus is going to spread to the entire nation. India has bore the maximum brunt of these attacks and considering India's evergrowing population, India has to be more defensive and political in its attitude in dealing with these tough situations because frankly, India is not ready to deal with a full blown war with radical terrorists who have nothing to lose. And 26/11 proved that the border security in India is a big question mark. It is just unbelievable that Pakistan (for the above reasons), Bangladesh (Bangladesh Rifles causing a bloody mutiny) and Sri Lank...

Things are looking better now that my father is back home recovering from the hip fracture he suffered beginning of February. Life has slowed down tremendously for him and my mother is trying hard to cope up. Last week saw the heaviest snowfall of the winter and unusually it was terribly cold when it snowed. A rare occurrence for freezing temperatures with snowfall. The past two winters in Minneapolis have been anything but good. Nothing special on the work front as well as the home front. Things are looking to improve at work with the project now lasting till June end with definite possibility of extension beyond the 2nd quarter of the year. Slumdog Millionaire swept the Oscars last week and for a change the Oscars seemed like a truly international event. Penelope Cruz (Spain), Slumdog Millionaire (India and Britain), Kate Winslet (England), Heath Ledger (Australia) and Hugh Jackman (Australia) definitely made it seem like a world-ly event, something not seen everyday in the United St...

Typical me that I thought a reality show like American Idol would be just another drama filled event with everyone wanting to win the grand prize. But I must say, I am hooked on to American Idol. There are some genuinely amazing talents who can sing. And it shows on the show why they need to win the title. People ridicule Simon Cowell for being brash and rude to the contestants, but he is brilliant when it comes to identifying a gem from the also-rans. Another show that I am beginning to like is Hell's Kitchen, a reality show for aspiring chefs. The show's main attraction is Chef Gordon Ramsey who is probably the rudest and arrogant person to step foot in a kitchen, but again he is simply the best. British personalities like Cowell and Ramsey are churning up America's best talents in the singing and the food business. No wonder they are coveted and so are the people whom they identify as the ones to carry a huge legacy on their shoulders.

Had been to the Hindu Temple today. One of the first things that I noticed about the temple parking lot was that it resembled a used Honda and Toyota car showroom. These two Japanese auto powerhouses have to thank the Indians all around the US for their exceptional sales. And this observation is true about any temple in the US. Pittsburgh Balaji Temple, Aurora Balaji Temple, Lemont Rama Temple etc are the few huge temples that I have visited and have been pleasantly shocked to see the number of Hondas and Toyotas in the parking lots. Lexus and Mercedes are also catching up. Seems the Indian diaspora is not gravely affected by the recession. They were/are smart about the money they earned. Talking about car sales, almost everyone from GM to Ford to Chrysler to Toyota to Honda to Nissan have seen their car sales decline by double digits. American automakers are struggling to sell their "bad" products to the consumers and this time unlike earlier years, the consumer knows better...

Shri Ram Sene ... naam to suna hi hoga ..says Pramod Muthalik, chief of the new 'terror' squad spreading havoc in Mangalore. After the 'punishment' that was unleashed at the pub-goers couple of weeks ago, there is a new "law and order" in town so to speak. And the occasion to 'celebrate' the new law is none other than the scorn of the hindu-tradition loving purists, "St. Valentine's Day". The 'rule' apparently is that if a couple is found 'together' on V-day, Shri Ram Sene activists are going to get them married off without (apparently) resorting to violence. Unka maanna hai ki 'itna hi pyar hai to shaadi kyun nahi kar lete'. Fair enough. But what the hell does Democracy mean or for that matter Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Speech mean to a citizen of India. Nothing when it concerns the Sene. Also, noodle straps and some western wear are not allowed to be worn by females. Good God. I thought America is goin...

25 odd days in India were probably the busiest and most hectic times in recent memory. The trip hardly qualified as a 'vacation'. Reached early morning on 27th and was off to Shirdi on 28th morning (4:00 am). Worst scenario possible: school holidays, sunday and unprecedented rush. Result: 3 hours of pushing and shoving and at the max 4 seconds of Baba's darshan. To top the day's workout , my mom-in-law, aunt and me lose our slippers to the crowd. Great way to say 'Welcome to India'. Travelled from Shirdi to Mumbai barefeet. Celebrated the new year at my in-laws' place and the chinese food ordered at 7:30 pm comfortably made its way to the house at 11:45 pm. Guess everyone was in the mood for chinese. In the end, it wasn't that great. But the anticipation and excitement for food was just priceless. Wish that never happens again. Went to a resort just outside Mumbai with my closest friends for a day and a half and had a great time there. Considering the e...