ARIA

A fairly new acronym around. ARIA stands for 'A Resident Indian Again'.

This has been coined to denote the home coming (for good) expatriates. I think this term will become popular soon and will stay popular for at least a decade. Like the way 'Brain Drain' was a hot topic during my college days 'Reverse Brain Drain' may become a hot topic for discussion soon. During the college days, some of my friends start the GD (group discussion) spontaneously on Brain Drain whenever they get drunk.

The article in The Economic Times that made me write this post and my other post is here.

One Fine Saturday...!!!

That was a late morning of one fine Saturday on a hot summer season. We were at our home. We decided to catch that newly released movie in theatre instead of waiting for DVD to get released. Through internet we booked two tickets in the multiplex in a mall that is almost 30 miles away.

In our compact car we started our journey which is half-way through a highway and the remaining half thru the city. On our journey through the highway we paid toll while cursing the government for making us to pay toll in addition to the taxes. While speeding on the highway suddenly & spontaneously I reduced the pressure I applied on the gas pedal as I saw a cop's car with swirling blue & red lights was making a Toyota Corolla pull over for (seemingly) over speeding. On the way to the mall I returned the shining black blazer that I had rented out for a function at my office.

After the long journey and bumper to bumper traffic inside the city we reached the mall. That was a medium sized mall which comprised of a multiplex, many shops and a real good food court. We parked the car in the huge basement parking lot of that mall and rushed to SUBWAY for a foot-long to have our late brunch. After the brunch we bought some clothes at Marks & Spencer. Then we bought some cookies 'to go' in a cookie shop in that mall.

At last went to watch the movie & enjoyed the movie.

Now the return journey.

Outside the mall, the city lights were fighting with the darkness of the night. As we were too tired for cooking our dinner, on our return journey, we ordered pizzas & chicken wings from Pizza Hut over phone for home delivery. I thought a cold beer would be better than a cold Pepsi to have along with pizzas. So we picked some beer in a liquor shop on the way.

It was a perfect synch between us reaching the home and the pizza's arrival. We had that sumptuous Pizza & chicken wings while watching the sitcom Joey in some channel. Then I watched some stupid movie in HBO and dozed off at 1:00 am.

Thanks to globalization. My dear non resident Indians all this did not take place in some city in US. It took place in our own Chennai.

During nineties it was brain drain now it is reverse brain drain. India is becoming a land of opportunities. Especially to those who went to US or UK during nineties, corporate India (& MNCs) is offering great positions. These corporates value the NRI's experience and want to utilize them to the fullest.

To me, it looks like those who are coming back from US or UK may not miss 'em any more.

Wanna be part of it?

Half Century...

Half Century. No, it is not the effect of world cup cricket. This is my fiftieth post.

I thank all my readers, friends and wellwishers at this juncture for their continuous support.

Thank You...!!!

Shhh....it's that time again...!!!

"It has started with a tough match this time"

"I am sure that India will be in finals"

"Looks like Srilanka is not in form"

"Tendulkar has always been scoring well in the world cups"

“Seeni, are you not leaving to watch the match...?!"

“Gavaskar was the best batsman ever"

These are some of the conversations I overheard just today alone in my office.

Even my friend siva who always writes some serious stuffs has written a fiction on street criket.

Shhh...it's that time again....!!!

With my great (!) interest on Cricket, I think I am gonna feel lonely when people around me talk about cricket.

Someone please tell me when is the world cup getting over?

Worth it?

Inflation was 6.1% for the week ended Feb 24.

Highest inflation rate during this fiscal year was 6.73%.

Look at the picture to find out the value of your money after 10 yrs, 20 yrs and 30 yrs with different inflation rates.

If your salary rise is less than 7% you better look for another job with higher salary. Otherwise you will actually be earning less than what you were before the rise.

Courtesy: The Economic Times & The Business Today

Reality Tours

Most of the reality shows from American Idol (also Indian Idol) to Apprentice to The Big brother to the regional Jodi No.1 (Vijay TV) were super hit. Actually there is no reality in these reality (?) shows per se. But somehow they satisfy our mentality of peeping other's house out of curiosity (!). I think that is the main cause for the success of these reality shows.

In line with these reality shows I came to know about Reality Tours. I felt this is simply atrocious. Read about one such reality tours here. This is targeted mainly at foreign tourists. Tour takes to Dharavi, Mumbai the biggest slum in Asia to show them the poor slum people.

Some excerpts from the site, which sells the reality tours:

A few visitors have been to Dharavi, including Prince Charles and Bill Clinton recently, and it is by no means dangerous to go alone.

We are very aware of not wanting to invade and disturb the residents of Dharavi. .......we have a strict NO CAMERAS POLICY.

(how great?!)

80% of profits after tax from these slum tours are donated to local NGOs (charities).
(how great?!)

On this tour you travel in the comfort of an a/c car. Throughout the tour, we want to show and explain to you areas that are not in the tourist guides, but give an insight about issues facing the less privileged members of society....

Look at the comments section of this reality tour site without fail.

What do you think?

Note: I came to know about this reality tours from here.

The Age Factor

I was so shocked & upset to see second gray hair on my moustache.

Yeah right, aging is a natural phenomenon and there should be no cribbing about it. But to me, aging doesn't seem to be a progressive thing. I feel like I gained 5 years within last one year. I blame it on my work-life imbalance, food habits and very less physical activities.

Recently my friend Balraj celebrated(?!) his 30th birthday. He is the first one to hit 30 among my close circle of friends from my college. I am not sure how he felt about hitting 30, but I felt awful because I am the next one in line to hit 30 in just less than 2 months from now. Honestly, I don't want to be 30. Looks like there is no escaping. :(

In an effort to fix my gray hair problem, I requested my wife for permission to get rid of my moustache. She coolly said to fix the cause instead of the effect. Man, wives are clever.

Theatre Exp...

Right from my childhood, as early as I could recollect, I have always been a movie lover.

There was a local theatre near my home in my native place. When I was small, going to movie was always a well-ahead preparation with requirement of approvals from long chain of commands. First I would have to propose that to my sister, we both would take that to my mom, then to my dad, then to my grand-ma and at last to my chithappa (a tough one to get the approval). Once everyone approves it, my entire family would go to watch the movie.

On the day of going to theatre almost all day I would be very happy, enthusiastic and brisk. Just before the movie starts, that theatre usually plays some music (same music every time) in loud speaker aloud, that's the indication & final call to the people living around that theatre to rush in to the theatre to catch the movie from the beginning.

When I hear that music, I would feel very very happy that I am going to start watching the movie very shortly. I am not really able to portrait that feeling well in words now. I have watched so many black & white classic movies in that theatre from my childhood. Going to that theatre proportionately reduced with my increasing age, the last I visited was during the year 2004 to watch the movie ‘Gillie’.

I always think that the current state of mind, the theatre ambience and accompanying people each play a crucial role in making you like or dislike the movie. (Movie may be a best one or a bust one that matters a little). I have enjoyed watching many super duper flop movies (like Mafia Gang, Time etc) because of those influencing factors and hated real nice movies as well for the very same reason.

Last week I went to watch a movie in a Drive-in in Chennai (Prarthana). That was my first drive-in theatre experience. I was in a good mood, the ambience was pretty good – I was in my car, my own private place, I was accompanied by my wife, who became a movie lover because of me. I could talk to my wife & discuss the movie while it was playing without disturbing anyone nearby; I could talk over my cell phone; I had my dinner too. Totally, I enjoyed the movie very much.

Questions(?) and Answers(!)

Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...

Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...

Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...

Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...

Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...

Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...Questions...

I am tired.

Why is the productivity so low?

Why is the delivery delayed?

Why is the number of defects so high?

Why there is so much of deviation against the planned?

Don't you think you could have done that?

Don't you know you should do this?

It's so easy to ask questions. But answering them...????

I am tired.

Missed Calls

After almost 21 months of my stay in Minneapolis-US, I was just back home at that time. I did not have a cell phone. I had a landline, so I did not feel the real need for a cell phone. This was just before my engagement. People talked about me as if I am a very strange person because I did not have a cell phone. Only then I realized how cell phone had become an integral part of our lives with-in a span of less than 2 years (while I was not in the country...!). Cell phone is okay; a feature in cell phone has become very important in many people's day-to-day lives.

It's been a month now since Apple announced about its product iPhone. While the debates of whether this product will succeed or fail in the market have almost faded away, I had a doubt about a feature in this product. The feature, which has become very important in many people's day-to-day lives. That’s gonna be the deciding factor for many people whether to buy or not.

Apple's portal states that iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone. ...Blah...blah...blah....

All these are okay;

Can I make missed calls using iPhone?

What if iPhone does not have that feature? Say, you dial a number, you can't terminate the call, it has to be answered or rings to the fullest or gets to the voice mail. Would you buy a phone with such feature?

No kidding. I enabled international dialling feature in my phone just to make missed calls. I would leave a missed call to my friends' phone, they would call back (well, most of the time). (You must ask my friend Arasan how much he is spending on phone bill after I enabled ISD in my phone).

This article in Hidustan Times says that Indians are (in)famous for missed calls - communicating without answering the calls. Article lists some points that we Indians communicate effectively through "missed calls".
Points from the article are:
"I'm thinking about you"
"Call me back."
"To let the other person know that someone has reached some place safely"

The article missed out an important point..."To annoy someone" (or read it "To tease your close ones"). Have you ever done that? Are you using 'missed calls' for anything other than this? Please share it, I am sure it would be very helpful to lot of souls.

Article also states that mobile companies are losing money because of 'missed calls' (obviously!). What if mobile companies & phone manufacturers decide to somehow stop this great feature? That's my main worry.