Happy Holidays

This will be probably one of the last or maybe the last post for 2010. Its been a very interesting journey, complete with lots of ups and downs. As I go into the final week of the year (and shutdown at work), there will be moments for reflection and introspection. What went well, what didn't, what to repeat and what to avoid. The next year will be even more challenging, so this is the time to recoup some energy and say our thanks to friends and family for all the wonderful times and support.

Here's a toast to everyone who touched my life ...

Wishing you a very Happy holiday season, Merry Christmas and a very happy, healthy and prosperous coming new year.

followers

I noticed last night that there are 3 "official" followers of my blog. One person I know (Shai) but the other two I don't - mabelladitan and peggy. Do you guys want to identify yourself?? :) Hopefully, you are someone I know. :) It's fine either ways.

India trip - Part 5 (final)

Several things to note from the India trip.

- Roads in Delhi are still congested and air is still very polluted.
- Traffic is a mess. The mentality "My small car is faster and more capable of squeezing through tight spaces to get ahead of your small car" mentality still pervades.
- people drive by visual senses i.e. they will start moving and hoping the other person (s) driving orthogonally would somehow be sensible enough to stop.
- people roll down the windows of their car while driving (thus inhaling smoke and dust) rather than close the windows and turn on the AC.

Beggars were all around and my kids were very disturbed. They couldn't understand why people (often handicapped) would be walking around with a sad face, in the middle of heavy traffic. Why would they be hungry and not have any money. Why we couldn't help all of them. We tried to explain but largely unsuccessful.

Saw extremes of poverty and wealth during the trip. Not sure how the poor manage to survive.

Less cows but more dogs on the road this time around.

On the positives:

- people are actually happy to meet you.
- Malls are awesome.
- Yummy food and great choices.
- spend the money and you can buy all convenience things.

Final 2-3 days we had wedding functions which went off nicely. The morning of the last day in India, I fell sick. Upset stomach and fever. I suspect some sort of food poisoning the previous night. Didn't eat much that day and at the wedding. The wedding venue was amazing but since it was night time and in the open (at a farm house), it was very cold despite the outdoor heaters. Secondly, since I was not quite well, I didn't eat much. Left with my brother to rest at night at his place. The next morning took my flight at 8 am back to the US. Felt much better on the flight, drank lots of liquids, pampered by the airline staff.... Landed in the US in the evening and next day early morning I was off to LA again for school. Back to the grind again. :)

The trip was short but sweet, rushed but enjoyable never the less. Family came back a week later.

India trip - Part 4

After visiting Guruji's Ashram the next day, we did some more shopping in chd before rushing back to Delhi. The state of the freeway was .... horrible. This particular road (chd - Delhi) called the GT Road has been under construction since 1990 or earlier and it was as horrible as ever. Someone remarked that they (Indians) plan their road upgradation work keeping in mind current traffic needs and by the time they finish, the capacity is already exceeded and they start all over again. It rang so true - the whole 6-7 hour journey (which was promised to be 3-4 hours).

Anyways, the next day we were supposed to fly out to B'lore to meet my BIL. We reached the airport on time and despite some initial hiccups, we managed to check in. While waiting at a cafe in the airport, suddenly there was some commotion. Apparently, a middle aged lady was sitting and screaming her head off at anyone or everyone who came near her (or it appeared that way). A few minutes of patient callous listening to her screaming revealed that she had dozed off while sitting on a chair in the cafe and some crook took advantage and walked away with her camera. As soon as she realized it, she started yelling and screaming. I felt bad for her but couldn't stop wondering what she was hoping to accomplish with her high pitched ranting. She should have been careful in the first place and eventually the only people who could help her would be the security people... but...

About 50 mins before the departure, we decided to go to the boarding area as we were getting bored. To our surprise, as we walked up, we heard them announcing the final boarding call for our flight. Freaked the hell out of us. Apparently, in India they stop the boarding a good 45 mins before the departure (in Comparision, Southwest waits till about 5 mins before departure). Flight was uneventful and we made it to my BILs place after a long drive (on a MERU cab). Same issue with traffic in B'lore. Roads had been dug up for Metro work (although couldn't see anyone doing anything). So traffic was bad. It was good to meet BIL and his family. The air was much cleaner in B'lore. Over the next 2 1/2 days, went to a couple of malls (bad traffic again but inside mall it was good), watched Golmaal 3 at PVR and went to ISKON temple (nearly missed the movie since my BIL wasn't sure of the directions coming back ...). BIL's apartment complex was also quite impressive. Huge multi-story buildings, 24 hr electricity, lush green landscaping. Finally flew back to Delhi on the 29th.

The wedding ceremonies started from the 30th onwards. More coming up ...

India trip - Part 3

While shopping in Chd, an incident happened which troubles me even today. It was afternoon and I and the kids were sitting outside a shop in Sec 17 while my wife was shopping inside a store. I saw two men walk by - laughing and talking. A small girl (about the same age as my son) was walking in front of them, asking for something - I presumed money. But the men kept walking totally ignoring her. I felt bad for the kid - begging at her age, poverty, no schooling and probably nothing much going on in her life. Poor kid. It appeared that the kid was used to being ignored and had developed some sort of stubborn persistence. I approached the girl and tapped her on her shoulder. I gave her Rs. 100. The two men kept walking totally unaware of what was going on. The girl was a little surprised, took a quick look at the money but I did not see any change in expression on her face. I reasoned that maybe she doesn't recognize what a Rs 100 note look like or whatever - but there was no joy on her face. I felt bad and I came back and sat down next to my kids. The girl came by and asked me if I could buy her some food. I was a little surprised and asked her to go buy it herself now that she had the money. But the girl pleaded with me pointing to a food shop some 100 meters away. She even asked me to take the money back - all she wanted was me to buy her some food.

Now, I was in a dilemma. If I went with the little girl to buy her the food and my wife came out in the meantime, she would be looking for us. So, I told the little girl to wait and I took the kids with me and went into the store. There I got entangled with my wife's shopping. After 10-15 minutes when I rushed out, I saw the girl walking away in a distance. I told my wife what had happened and followed the girl (to help her). By the time I reached the corner, she had disappeared. We all felt very bad and waited some more but she never showed up. Who knows what the girl's problem was - maybe the food shopkeepers shun these poor kids away, maybe they snatch there money away and give pennies for the dollar (so to speak), maybe she has an abusive father/mother/uncle... whatever the situation, it was quite apparent that she wanted food more than the money and I failed to help the poor kid. That incident still bothers me quite a bit. It is very easy to look down on these people and rationalize the reasons why we should not help them (why can't they get a job, they are probably serial beggars etc etc) but the pangs of hunger, poverty and helplessness are known only to those who suffer from them and have nothing much going on in their life.

On this trip, I threw out all my reasoning (well most of it) and helped kids and women who came by asking for money. They are the most vulnerable section of out society (I did help another guy who had no legs). In any case, the reason for this post is not to feel proud of the charity I did but to highlight that there is extreme levels of wealth and poverty in India. Most of us are quick to jump to conclusions about other people and their situation rather than stop judging them and helping them out for a change. It is pretty sad to live a life of poverty and hopelessness and the last thing they need is apathy from people like us.

India trip - Part 2

After reaching my in-laws house, had some traditional north indian breakfast - paranthas and fresh home-made white butter. yumm. Cricket match was coming on tv (this is one thing I like abt India... all cricket matches and other sporting events come live on tv in India where as in the US you have to look around and subscribe specially). Watched a little bit of the match. Headed over to the wedding girl's house. Met several folks there after a long time. Very warmly received by the family. Later in the night, there was a surprise birthday cake for me. :) Very thoughtful of them to celebrate my b'day even though with a wedding coming up in a few days, people are generally too tired to think about such things.

Booked plane tkts for b'lore. Quite expensive i must admit. $850 or so for 4 of us. India is not cheap compared to the US. Even otherwise Rs 500 notes fly off as if you are spending Rs 10 or so... Next day didn't do much except consult a specialist doc at Primus Hospital. Booked a taxi for trip to Chd. This time we insisted on the most spacious and comfortable vehicle... ended up with a Innova. The car was decent (like a minivan here) and the driver was competent.

on the morning of the 3rd day in India, left early morning for chd. 1st stop was Karnal and we reached there around 9 am or so. Some of my cousins had already left for school and some were leaving. Met my chacha's and their families. Went to the temple built on our land in memory of my grandmother. Showed the kids what a handpump is. They were really intrigued how water comes out of it. :) Moved on to the 2nd stop Kurukshetra where we met my Bua and family. Had lunch there. Final stop was Ambala where we met more couisins and Mama/Mami. By that time the kids were tired of meeting so many new dada/dadis. :) Reached chd around 8 and straight away went to Sec 17 and 19 for shopping. Shopping is fun in Chd - neat and clean place, I grew up there - so I know my way around and we had a car at our disposal. Fiannly, reached home around 11:30 pm (after dinner at Gopal's) and hit the sack - tired.

India trip - Part 1

I am back after a small break. I was gone for a couple of weeks on a trip to India. I know - two weeks is not enough at all but due to other compulsions, I had to come back soon. Our last trip was about 5 years back and we were all looking forward to this trip. In this and the next few posts, I will recount my experience which some of you may find amusing, interesting, intriguing or been-there-done-that. :)

Prologue to the trip: I was in LA attending school the day before the trip. As it is a few weeks back, the return flight time had changed to 7:45 pm in the evening which meant reaching home at 9:00 or later in the night. That fateful day, the weather was quite bad and after classes we found out that my flight back to SJ was delayed and would start at 9:30 pm. Oh god!!! When we boarded the flight, the attendant announced that due to the bad weather, the flight may be diverted to Sacramento. Oh god+++!!!. Fortunately it was not and I reached home around 11:15 pm in the night. Our flight to India was next morning and we had to leave the house by 9:30 am. Kudos to my wife for managing all the packing, shopping, handling two over-excited kids and not losing her temper. :)

Flight to India: We chose Singapore Airlines. From past experience, we have always had a good time with them and their service was amazing this time as well. The flight(s) passed off comfortably. I even managed to catch a couple of Hindi movies as well. :) Other than a stiff neck (from sleeping on the plane), everything was fine (wish my wife had bought two of those traveling pillows instead of one) :(.

Landed in Delhi in the morning and disappointed not to see clear blue skies. Having heard all the hype about the metro and how the traffic and pollution had eased, I was hoping to see clear blue skies (or at least dull blue) but instead I saw some haze. It was not clear whether it was smog or "dhoondh". Turned out the taxi guy failed to show up at the last minute and my FIL had to scramble to get a taxi at the last minute. He managed to get an old khatara Ambassador improvised with a gas cylinder int he trunk (read almost no luggage space) from the era of 1947 (or so it seemed). My jaw dropped to the ground... but soon I saw 3-4 people gleefully helping load out luggage on the roof of the car. The driver tied up all the pieces of the suitcases with a single thin rope. yes one thin rope. Soon, turned out all the "helpers" were strangers from the airport in search of $$$. Their MO is to (voluntarily) help load luggage and then in turn ask for $$$s. Well too bad, they had to be content with the good old INR this time (although I was more gnerous than I should have been). All the way home, I would keep looking back half expecting our luggage to be lying on the road but fortunately the ride back home was uneventful and we reached safe and sound with all the luggage.

Stay tuned for the next update... coming soon. :)