Wardrobe Affairs
Staying in minnesota one of the major decisions you have to go through each day is how you are going to dress . Doesn't seem like a big deal but you have to be in Minnesota to realize the dilema that one has to go through everyday before deciding what to wear.
So how does a typical day start . You look outside your window , it seems all warm and sunny , had it been some other place you would have just stepped out wearing a normal t-shirt and jeans or shorts , its sunny right . But having become somewhat of a veteran here you should know better . So you sleepily open up your laptop and check the weather ..well seems like a warm day but you see again being the veteran that you are you look up the windchill ..ahh there you go the windchill is going to bring a temperatures really low .
My first orientation letter in minneapolis they taught us the importance of dressing up in layers and over the years I have to appreciate the wisdom behind it . So how does the process actually work ..you see in winters a typical day would be around -20 but then windchill might make it -30 , thats the outside temperature but then most of the inside places have heating , some places have more of it and some places and you need to be armed for all these situations , have the appropriate amount of layers .
Usually the it is transition between seasons the is most treacherous time . Even weather forcasters in minnesota have a tough time predicting at the beginning of the day how the temperature is going to be at the end of the day . So you are there standing in front your wardrobe deciding should I wear a full sleeved t-shirt or sleevless , should i wear a jacket - a fur one , fleece one or leather one ..will it get warm , how windy wil it be , what if it becomes cold should i take gloves - single layered or multi layered ones ( you cannot drive you car sometimes with the single layered ones bcoz your hands become too cold ) ....
Having expounded so many energy on making these decisions early in the morning you are all tired by the time you make your way to work and all the time you are keeping your fingers crossed hoping you made the right decisions for the day :-)
Showing posts with label Experiences in US. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Experiences in US. Show all posts
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
So what after you settle down ..?
I was talking to Karin the other day and she asked me if still wrote my blog and I said well I used when I was settling down in this country but now I dnt . She told me I should continue writing since I have more of insider's view now .
I guess as the struggle goes down so does the creative instinct , now I no longer have stories of fighting the winter cold or almost failing in a class . Its the more comfortable life of driving the car , doing a job that you like , a kind manager , a beautiful house and time to pursue all kinds of hobbies .. in short living the american dream ...
But there is a lot more about the american dream that has enchanted me in the recent times ...Watching Obama become President has been like reading one of those old autobiographies of a leader rising from nowhere to take over the world . This man did everythin gthat almost no one does these days , he dreamt big at such a young age and had the conviction and the integrity to hold himself up through the entire process . I just saw the last season of West Wing where Matt Santos had a similar run and I could not stop but think , these are things that happen in movies not in real life..a man choses to hold on to his integrity, never to use negativity against the other guy , believe in himself so much that even though there are so many liabilities holding up against him he continues to soldier on .
We indeed have been very lucky to watch all this unfold right in front of us . I dnt know what it does to america but it sure has given a hope to loads of young people out there that if you need to something to change you have to get out there and believe that you can do it .
Teaching me more about the american dream are my students at the SHAPE center . This is center for immigrants from different countries who have come to US to find a life that is different than their war stricken , poor , corrupt nations ..where the situation of your birth counts more than your talent or your hard work . I was once talking to a Somali women about what are the common things that they see in their country . She looked down at the list which had things like telephone , refrigerator etc ..and said ohh these , we used to have them but now we don't because of the war .
I hear about people fighting with their own folks in most of the countries and then I look at the people that we see here in the US on a daily basis . You walk into a supermarket and you can easily see people from some 20 countries go about there daily routine buying the same flour to make chapati , tortillas or a pizza at home . Nowhere do you a sign of hostility amongst them , they have all learnt to peacefully co-exist with their new and old cultures. Then you wonder why people back home are still fighting with people from the same nation and it all starts seeming trivial.
Karin says she thinks americans are too cold and when she goes to India she sees the warmth in the people . I wonder where does the coldness in americans go when they greet you ,a immigrant to this nation with such warmth in their houses and treat you as a equal at work . At the same time where does the warmth in the Indians go when we go around butchering each other on the streets or backstabbing a colleague at work .
Ofcourse the above mentioned stuff nowhere negates the overly materialistic and lonely america , the confused teenagers , americas global policies and ofcourse now the recession which is taking the whole world down with it . Those would have to wait for a later blog though . However this nation offers hope and opportunity to a better life to so many all over the world that I sometimes wonder if I can find the magic vial that holds the formula to this .
I was talking to Karin the other day and she asked me if still wrote my blog and I said well I used when I was settling down in this country but now I dnt . She told me I should continue writing since I have more of insider's view now .
I guess as the struggle goes down so does the creative instinct , now I no longer have stories of fighting the winter cold or almost failing in a class . Its the more comfortable life of driving the car , doing a job that you like , a kind manager , a beautiful house and time to pursue all kinds of hobbies .. in short living the american dream ...
But there is a lot more about the american dream that has enchanted me in the recent times ...Watching Obama become President has been like reading one of those old autobiographies of a leader rising from nowhere to take over the world . This man did everythin gthat almost no one does these days , he dreamt big at such a young age and had the conviction and the integrity to hold himself up through the entire process . I just saw the last season of West Wing where Matt Santos had a similar run and I could not stop but think , these are things that happen in movies not in real life..a man choses to hold on to his integrity, never to use negativity against the other guy , believe in himself so much that even though there are so many liabilities holding up against him he continues to soldier on .
We indeed have been very lucky to watch all this unfold right in front of us . I dnt know what it does to america but it sure has given a hope to loads of young people out there that if you need to something to change you have to get out there and believe that you can do it .
Teaching me more about the american dream are my students at the SHAPE center . This is center for immigrants from different countries who have come to US to find a life that is different than their war stricken , poor , corrupt nations ..where the situation of your birth counts more than your talent or your hard work . I was once talking to a Somali women about what are the common things that they see in their country . She looked down at the list which had things like telephone , refrigerator etc ..and said ohh these , we used to have them but now we don't because of the war .
I hear about people fighting with their own folks in most of the countries and then I look at the people that we see here in the US on a daily basis . You walk into a supermarket and you can easily see people from some 20 countries go about there daily routine buying the same flour to make chapati , tortillas or a pizza at home . Nowhere do you a sign of hostility amongst them , they have all learnt to peacefully co-exist with their new and old cultures. Then you wonder why people back home are still fighting with people from the same nation and it all starts seeming trivial.
Karin says she thinks americans are too cold and when she goes to India she sees the warmth in the people . I wonder where does the coldness in americans go when they greet you ,a immigrant to this nation with such warmth in their houses and treat you as a equal at work . At the same time where does the warmth in the Indians go when we go around butchering each other on the streets or backstabbing a colleague at work .
Ofcourse the above mentioned stuff nowhere negates the overly materialistic and lonely america , the confused teenagers , americas global policies and ofcourse now the recession which is taking the whole world down with it . Those would have to wait for a later blog though . However this nation offers hope and opportunity to a better life to so many all over the world that I sometimes wonder if I can find the magic vial that holds the formula to this .
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Knocking on doors !!
Coming to US has taught me the beauty of something I call knocking on the doors . Although I seem like a pretty outgoing person , I have my decent share of butterflies in the stomach when I have to go and meet someone new or talk to them . I always hesitate in going and knocking on the door but then life in the US has taught a little about how nothing really bad can ever happen to you , there is always the worse you can rely on to cheer you up .
Coming back to the point , I knocked quite a few doors in my two years here and I have recieved so much love and joy from behind these closed doors that I have become a ardent believer in this concept . The first door that I knocked was of the Minnesota International center which has led to me to the homes of three wonderful families who have opened up their house and heart for us . It has introduced to me to Karin and her family who are now almost like home away from home to me . The MIC also let me to elementary schools in Minneapolis , where I got an opportunity to have lots of fun with hundreds of kids from kindergarden to the 8th grade , each one has offered me something to cherish and remember throught out my life .
The next door that I knocked was off my next door neighbours which gave me a whole group of wonderful friends whom I cherish being with ...
Then comes the door to the Barbara center for dance and the fergueson hall for music ..I almost decided to turn around and go back half way . the dance class that I wanted to join was full and I had almost decided to go back when the teacher asked me to go down and meet cythia garner who takes modern dance ..I went down the door was closed ..my first impulse was to go back but then I stayed on ..the door opened and I was ushered into a beautiful world of dance , which has given me something more than just dance moves ...an internal joy which is hard to describe...it also introduced me to a world of totally different people ..the world of artists ..the language of the heart as opposed to the language of reason that I am used to ..
And finally the latest door that I went in through..the Mc Donald Home for children suffering from long term diseases ...once again a totally different world and a entirely new experience ...
Here is my story of knocking doors and I believe I will continue to do that for a long time ..
Coming to US has taught me the beauty of something I call knocking on the doors . Although I seem like a pretty outgoing person , I have my decent share of butterflies in the stomach when I have to go and meet someone new or talk to them . I always hesitate in going and knocking on the door but then life in the US has taught a little about how nothing really bad can ever happen to you , there is always the worse you can rely on to cheer you up .
Coming back to the point , I knocked quite a few doors in my two years here and I have recieved so much love and joy from behind these closed doors that I have become a ardent believer in this concept . The first door that I knocked was of the Minnesota International center which has led to me to the homes of three wonderful families who have opened up their house and heart for us . It has introduced to me to Karin and her family who are now almost like home away from home to me . The MIC also let me to elementary schools in Minneapolis , where I got an opportunity to have lots of fun with hundreds of kids from kindergarden to the 8th grade , each one has offered me something to cherish and remember throught out my life .
The next door that I knocked was off my next door neighbours which gave me a whole group of wonderful friends whom I cherish being with ...
Then comes the door to the Barbara center for dance and the fergueson hall for music ..I almost decided to turn around and go back half way . the dance class that I wanted to join was full and I had almost decided to go back when the teacher asked me to go down and meet cythia garner who takes modern dance ..I went down the door was closed ..my first impulse was to go back but then I stayed on ..the door opened and I was ushered into a beautiful world of dance , which has given me something more than just dance moves ...an internal joy which is hard to describe...it also introduced me to a world of totally different people ..the world of artists ..the language of the heart as opposed to the language of reason that I am used to ..
And finally the latest door that I went in through..the Mc Donald Home for children suffering from long term diseases ...once again a totally different world and a entirely new experience ...
Here is my story of knocking doors and I believe I will continue to do that for a long time ..
Graduation
I have been meaning to update my blog for so many days now but it has been by far the busiest holidays ever . So this blog is now going to be the culmination of three separate blogs .
First things first …I graduated …seems like a big word and I was supposed to and tried to feel something like an achievement done or something likethat..Unfortunately all it felt like was a nice big party day with the colorful robes, joking around with the friends and walking up the stage to receive the cover for my yet to be received certificate.
I was more excited about my one week in the wilderness of boundary waters trip as a commemoration of my graduation and to celebrate probably the longest break I will get before I start working ..i was shouting around at the top of my voice telling friends about this once in a lifetime trip , shopping etc etc .
Ever heard of smthing called how things can change in just one day ..thats what happened on this wonderful sunny Sunday in the May of ’08 . I was all dressed up to take my shinny new car to the temple and get puja done as per my dad’s wishes . The friend I was supposed to go with called in and said he cannot make it …hmm well I thought let me get some medicines for the trip just incase ..off I went to Boynton , got 12$ worth of medicines , came back joked around with friends ..just when I got a call from my trip leader ..” Hi Akhila , Laura here , I have a family emergency at home ..I am sorry but we are cancelling the trip ..”….5 sec down ..10 secs down …I was numb ..now this cannot be happening , I remember telling myself ..this was one of my most eagerly awaited trips and adventures of all times ….how can it go wrong ..I was finding it difficult to compose myself …went home called a friend , almost broke down …called one last time to confirm if all that I had heard 10 mins back was for real ..Yes it was ..Ok relax …lets put backup plan into operation ..prepone tickets to the family getogether …well as you might have guessed by the flavor of the day till now ..tickets are non-refundable , non – changeable…
Friends are starting to call in ..we have other plans for the day ..one deep breath , I composed myself and off we went in my shiny new phantom gray Toyota camry ..and well what do you expect …I drive beautifully on the highways ..my first time without a trained driver sitting next to me ..and just when we are near the lake we were meant to go to,on a local road ..My car's bumper gently kisses a red car bumper right in front of me …déjà vu ..the same numb feeling is returning to me ..10 secs blank out …well I pull over like a obedient immigrant following unknown rules in an unknown country . A totally disturbed young girl comes out of the car …I am counting my secs and there she goes ..crying away to glory …déjà vu again ..a total blank ..”crying for a gentle kiss?? “ …what do I do now …I faintly hear her telling me she needed to call some one to calm her down ..she is very disturbed etc etc ..next minute we are in the centre of a busy marketplace on a bright sunny Sunday afternoon surrounded by cops , paramedics ..the fair lady who I hit is barking out a story off how everything in her body feels numb (all due to a gentle hit at 2 miles per hour??? …Americans should be crowned hype masters ..!!!) …my other alien friends with citations in there records called up to congratulate me for joining the club of law breakers …:-)( a friend in need is a friend in deed ) …
As if that was not enough at the end of the day I gave my dear roomie a slight neck massage by pulling up the window when she was looking out of it ..don’t worry she is still alive ..:-)
Wow that was quite some day …!!!
And so it has been for the rest of the holidays till now…a vacation worth cherishing …starting from the adventures in my new car ..to jetsking at 60 miles / per hour with the water splashing on my face ..sticking up live earthworms to fishing rods and watching them being wasted away since the fish were too smart to get caught ..weekend at the resort like home of bemmu atta with wonderful dancing ,singing , cricket , pool with the family …stacking away donations at the Mc Donalds home ..followed by a weekend of blissful camping in Itasca state park munching away at barbecued mushrooms , sweet potatos , paneer with mosquito repellant flavouring ,canoeing and kayaking till all my bones broke and finally hip hopping away in the zenon dance centre …
With 2 more weeks to go there is so much more to come ..!!!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Little men and women
Somedays we come across certain people who make us realize how blessed our lives our ....soon after landing into the US I went into walmart to get basic supplies ..My roomie and I were getting restless in line waiting for lady in from of us to finish her billing ....they dnt take so much time here in the US we thought ....
Then I just stepped back to look at what that old lady ..probably in here late 60s or early 70s was trying to do ...she had a neatly clipped together pile of discount coupons in a sandwich bag . She was handing them out one by one to the cashier to get her total reduced ...finally when the coupons still could not get the total down ..she started handing back her items ...
then she turned around to see the sea of faces acting as they were getting busy for the most important thing in the world ...and said apologetically ..sorry i dnt get make pay till next week ...
she then fumbled around in her bag for all the money that she had to pay the bills ..the bill however was now a dollar less than what she had ..she happily stowed the bill away and said alteast I am not broke...!!!
We had hardly walked out in the chilling cold to the next store when we saw the cub food guy shivering in the cold and collecting the food carts and taking them back ..just when a lady came in a big truck and bumped into the entire train ..no matter how much the guy asked her to back up ..she just did not ..he had to go back ..put each cart individually and make way for the lady's truck ...
I will not draw any conclusions for these events ..they speak for themselves...
Somedays we come across certain people who make us realize how blessed our lives our ....soon after landing into the US I went into walmart to get basic supplies ..My roomie and I were getting restless in line waiting for lady in from of us to finish her billing ....they dnt take so much time here in the US we thought ....
Then I just stepped back to look at what that old lady ..probably in here late 60s or early 70s was trying to do ...she had a neatly clipped together pile of discount coupons in a sandwich bag . She was handing them out one by one to the cashier to get her total reduced ...finally when the coupons still could not get the total down ..she started handing back her items ...
then she turned around to see the sea of faces acting as they were getting busy for the most important thing in the world ...and said apologetically ..sorry i dnt get make pay till next week ...
she then fumbled around in her bag for all the money that she had to pay the bills ..the bill however was now a dollar less than what she had ..she happily stowed the bill away and said alteast I am not broke...!!!
We had hardly walked out in the chilling cold to the next store when we saw the cub food guy shivering in the cold and collecting the food carts and taking them back ..just when a lady came in a big truck and bumped into the entire train ..no matter how much the guy asked her to back up ..she just did not ..he had to go back ..put each cart individually and make way for the lady's truck ...
I will not draw any conclusions for these events ..they speak for themselves...
Monday, December 24, 2007
Commemoration ....
The D -Day is finally here . I am going back to india after 1.5 years in the US ..i call it commemoration because it kinda sums up my blog ...i started 1.5 years back documenting my survival in the US ...and i managed to that for 1.5 years now ...
lot has changed ..i met so many wonderful and most importantly humble people ...learnt a thing or two about living life ...finally managed to get a a good gradepoint of 3.8 after all the ups and the downs ...grew my hair ..:-) ...njoyed nature at its best here in minneapolis ...financed myself on my own for 1 year now ..bought my own tickets...some rights , some wrongs ..overall it has been a very happening year ...
will all this in my satchel i head by to india ..every time i fly in the US and look down upon the lights of the towns below ..i always wonder how india looks from up there ..so that is the first thing that I am gonna see this time I fly back to india ...i can hardly understand how I feel right now on heady back to india ...have been waiting for this for so long now ..that when it comes you dunno how to feel about it ....time to catch up with my roots and eat some masale dar food ...india here I come ...
The D -Day is finally here . I am going back to india after 1.5 years in the US ..i call it commemoration because it kinda sums up my blog ...i started 1.5 years back documenting my survival in the US ...and i managed to that for 1.5 years now ...
lot has changed ..i met so many wonderful and most importantly humble people ...learnt a thing or two about living life ...finally managed to get a a good gradepoint of 3.8 after all the ups and the downs ...grew my hair ..:-) ...njoyed nature at its best here in minneapolis ...financed myself on my own for 1 year now ..bought my own tickets...some rights , some wrongs ..overall it has been a very happening year ...
will all this in my satchel i head by to india ..every time i fly in the US and look down upon the lights of the towns below ..i always wonder how india looks from up there ..so that is the first thing that I am gonna see this time I fly back to india ...i can hardly understand how I feel right now on heady back to india ...have been waiting for this for so long now ..that when it comes you dunno how to feel about it ....time to catch up with my roots and eat some masale dar food ...india here I come ...
Friday, September 21, 2007
Fall 2008
Its been a year since I came to the US now .... feels longer than a year though ..so much has changed , I have seen so much and learnt so much in this one year .
Its fall again , the wonderful green all around , the river blowing from the missisipi river ..i remember writing about it all around the same time last year and feel the same kind of serene feeling I felt when I saw it the first time . Nothing stands before the beautiful missisipi river and the green carpets all around in bringing serenity and desire to do better to ones life.
I saw a movie today called aap ka aasman , a art movie ...it is the story of a mentally challenged child and his parents who are in great despair bcoz of their child . They discover a brain booster medicine which changes their child into a mathematical genius but at the same time makes him emotionally zero . He takes to drugs , starts hating his parent and ultimately assaults both of them . They then discover the antidote and bring him back to being a mentally challenged kid . They then encourage him to paint , since he seems to like that and eventually get him to present in a art exhibition ...
Gave a very important message to me ..sometimes we forget to appreciate what we have ..hoping it was something else ..but when it does become something else we realise thats not what we wanted ..
Another thing that I heard recently was a speech by Steve Jobs ..he mentioned that always remember that death is great leveller ..if you were to die today ..what would you have done ...
life is too short ..try living it and not watching it pass by ...
Its been a year since I came to the US now .... feels longer than a year though ..so much has changed , I have seen so much and learnt so much in this one year .
Its fall again , the wonderful green all around , the river blowing from the missisipi river ..i remember writing about it all around the same time last year and feel the same kind of serene feeling I felt when I saw it the first time . Nothing stands before the beautiful missisipi river and the green carpets all around in bringing serenity and desire to do better to ones life.
I saw a movie today called aap ka aasman , a art movie ...it is the story of a mentally challenged child and his parents who are in great despair bcoz of their child . They discover a brain booster medicine which changes their child into a mathematical genius but at the same time makes him emotionally zero . He takes to drugs , starts hating his parent and ultimately assaults both of them . They then discover the antidote and bring him back to being a mentally challenged kid . They then encourage him to paint , since he seems to like that and eventually get him to present in a art exhibition ...
Gave a very important message to me ..sometimes we forget to appreciate what we have ..hoping it was something else ..but when it does become something else we realise thats not what we wanted ..
Another thing that I heard recently was a speech by Steve Jobs ..he mentioned that always remember that death is great leveller ..if you were to die today ..what would you have done ...
life is too short ..try living it and not watching it pass by ...
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Royal Treatement
3 months of living life kingsize has left me dreading getting back to the third world graduate life at school .
For once you get to work in a company that pay you the highest amongst interns all over. You are all set to come in when you realise you dnt have a car and no bus goes to your workplace. The gentlemen that they are , my employers agree to reimburse a cab ride for me . Whow!!!I arrive to work in a chauffeur driven car every day to work now .
Inside the brightly lit building painted in all hues of the sky you get to know the one of most intricate technologies that exist and if technology excites you , this is the place to be . They have Phds from aerospace , electrical , mechanical , chemical all bunched together making one of the best drives in the world .
And then you get to work on a really cool project . I put in only half of the effort that I did at school and my mentor asks me if i m getting awed by the work ...:-)...If thats not it , free tickets to valley fair , harry potter screening and bunch of inside activities . Just icing on the cake .
Add to it free evening , free weekends ...zero nagging by your brain about the amount of work you have left ...and money to travel ...i went all over the US in these 3 months ...:-P
The past 3 days have just been wonderful with the farewell lunches , people coming to ask you if you liked the work and what you think of the company ... now thats some respect ...hmmmm ....
Well Well but all good things come to an end ...
Now starts a new chapter with me trying to figure out algorithms in the brain ..:-D
3 months of living life kingsize has left me dreading getting back to the third world graduate life at school .
For once you get to work in a company that pay you the highest amongst interns all over. You are all set to come in when you realise you dnt have a car and no bus goes to your workplace. The gentlemen that they are , my employers agree to reimburse a cab ride for me . Whow!!!I arrive to work in a chauffeur driven car every day to work now .
Inside the brightly lit building painted in all hues of the sky you get to know the one of most intricate technologies that exist and if technology excites you , this is the place to be . They have Phds from aerospace , electrical , mechanical , chemical all bunched together making one of the best drives in the world .
And then you get to work on a really cool project . I put in only half of the effort that I did at school and my mentor asks me if i m getting awed by the work ...:-)...If thats not it , free tickets to valley fair , harry potter screening and bunch of inside activities . Just icing on the cake .
Add to it free evening , free weekends ...zero nagging by your brain about the amount of work you have left ...and money to travel ...i went all over the US in these 3 months ...:-P
The past 3 days have just been wonderful with the farewell lunches , people coming to ask you if you liked the work and what you think of the company ... now thats some respect ...hmmmm ....
Well Well but all good things come to an end ...
Now starts a new chapter with me trying to figure out algorithms in the brain ..:-D
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
5 miles
Yesterday was one of the small accomplishment day . I ran 5 miles non stop on the tread mill .
I had decided I would write a blog on the day I accomplish this .
Finishing my last mile on the tread mill I could see the whole of last year gone by before my eyes . Intially when I started , running half a mile would kill me ...i had cramps all over my body , couldn't move. Over the entire process I realised it was very easy to give up . Your body is as lethargic as your mind makes it to , as soon as it sees your body getting out of the comfort zone it sends out signals ..ohh , i m so tired ..i just cannot make it any further ..the trick is to realise that your mind is playing games with you . The minute you do not give in to your mind , the journey ahead becomes really simple .
All this while I thought running was all about having the stamina , but now I realise it just about how strong your mind is ..bcoz in the end it is just a mind game .
Obviously this nowhere means that my mind was really strong and so I got here ...it was only bcoz of the constant pestering of my geeky marathon runner friend that I got here . All thanks to him.
There have been these times in my life where I have seen someone do smthing and wanted to be there ..and the day you are there just feels awesome and I guess thats what makes life worth living ...not the moment of accomplishment but the life you live since you concieve that dream , to the day you get there ...
Now on starts another goal in my life ..to sustain what I gained ..the struggle starts again ....
Yesterday was one of the small accomplishment day . I ran 5 miles non stop on the tread mill .
I had decided I would write a blog on the day I accomplish this .
Finishing my last mile on the tread mill I could see the whole of last year gone by before my eyes . Intially when I started , running half a mile would kill me ...i had cramps all over my body , couldn't move. Over the entire process I realised it was very easy to give up . Your body is as lethargic as your mind makes it to , as soon as it sees your body getting out of the comfort zone it sends out signals ..ohh , i m so tired ..i just cannot make it any further ..the trick is to realise that your mind is playing games with you . The minute you do not give in to your mind , the journey ahead becomes really simple .
All this while I thought running was all about having the stamina , but now I realise it just about how strong your mind is ..bcoz in the end it is just a mind game .
Obviously this nowhere means that my mind was really strong and so I got here ...it was only bcoz of the constant pestering of my geeky marathon runner friend that I got here . All thanks to him.
There have been these times in my life where I have seen someone do smthing and wanted to be there ..and the day you are there just feels awesome and I guess thats what makes life worth living ...not the moment of accomplishment but the life you live since you concieve that dream , to the day you get there ...
Now on starts another goal in my life ..to sustain what I gained ..the struggle starts again ....
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Cabbies
In the land of Uncle Sam the most interesting and knowlegable conversations that you can have are with cabbies. They are the people who know it all . It just needs some respect for them on your part to get them to talk and once they do they open your eyes to a world of knowledge .
My own cabbie Sadik is from Somalia . We often talk about customs in his country and how they are similar to ours back home . Now Somalia is nation which has been in civil war for almost 17 years now and has no government at all . Sadik told me a lot of interesting facts about Somalia . For once since they do not have a govt they are official refugees in every country . They can just drop in in any country and the govts there are supposed to support them . Minneapolis for once has a very big somalian population .
The conversation we had today was most interesting . He asked me how many siblings I have and I said one younger sister . He said thats it ...back in somalia even today ppl have 10 - 11 kids ..as many as they want . So then I asked how do ppl offord to have so many kids ..he said thats easy ..we dnt have to pay for education..actually rite now there are no govt schools ..only private schools , healthcare anyways is screwed . I asked so what about college education and he said well we dnt have any colleges .. Any body who wants to study further has to run away from the country to neighbouring countries like Kenya...and from there they can go to any country like US or Australia ..and find a Job there ...if they still want to , some of them go on to study further ..most of them dnt ...
I was shocked to find out that an entire nation of 5 million people is without education and govt ..this is the state of just one of the countries in Africa...lack of education and healthcare epidemics ..God knows how those countries even manage to survive .
In the land of Uncle Sam the most interesting and knowlegable conversations that you can have are with cabbies. They are the people who know it all . It just needs some respect for them on your part to get them to talk and once they do they open your eyes to a world of knowledge .
My own cabbie Sadik is from Somalia . We often talk about customs in his country and how they are similar to ours back home . Now Somalia is nation which has been in civil war for almost 17 years now and has no government at all . Sadik told me a lot of interesting facts about Somalia . For once since they do not have a govt they are official refugees in every country . They can just drop in in any country and the govts there are supposed to support them . Minneapolis for once has a very big somalian population .
The conversation we had today was most interesting . He asked me how many siblings I have and I said one younger sister . He said thats it ...back in somalia even today ppl have 10 - 11 kids ..as many as they want . So then I asked how do ppl offord to have so many kids ..he said thats easy ..we dnt have to pay for education..actually rite now there are no govt schools ..only private schools , healthcare anyways is screwed . I asked so what about college education and he said well we dnt have any colleges .. Any body who wants to study further has to run away from the country to neighbouring countries like Kenya...and from there they can go to any country like US or Australia ..and find a Job there ...if they still want to , some of them go on to study further ..most of them dnt ...
I was shocked to find out that an entire nation of 5 million people is without education and govt ..this is the state of just one of the countries in Africa...lack of education and healthcare epidemics ..God knows how those countries even manage to survive .
Monday, June 04, 2007
Imagine a dollar being credited to your tax refund account bcoz some bummer somewhere in the US wrote down the same SSN number as yours and decided to send one dollar to the US govt as his expression for solidarity with Bush !! Well whatever his reasons were that guy cost me 500 bucks coz the computer just bumped over my account as it could not figure out what to do with that one dollar and bingo I never got back my tax returns . Several days and a hour length of phone call later the guy at the IRS fixed up smthing which would I think enable me to get my hard earned money back ... I m still not sure though ...
Now that happens to one in a million people ..what are the chances that it would happen to me ..
Not until today though when I start my internship at Seagate . I come in all dressed up , raring to go and the lady tells me that my name is not in the system . My manager is not in town and the lady who can fix this is in california who doesn't come in until 2 hours later. Some forms which were to be sent by my manager to that lady never went thru ..rest all of the interns head happily to the orientation while I wait there ..1 hr down , 2 , 3 , 4 ,5 ...and I see the interns all heading back happily with the orientation goodies waving at me . I m still there stuck in the lobby .... Finally they figure out a way to get me in ..only to be followed by a cold reception by a computer which doesn't like me too much ..it refuses to install any of the softwares ...The guy helping me says ..." Well its almost like you were not meant to be here ..." ..aha ..thats wat an intern wants to hear on her first day at work !!!! ...
Well so now what are possibilities of all this happening to the same person ...Pretty less you would say ..
Well I dnt think so ..get talking to people and you realize that each one of them have had these chance games ( thats what I like calling them ) ..happening to them some time or the other ...and I guess this unpredictibility is what makes life so much fun ...
Even when we think we have planned out a lot of stuff in our life ..there is still a lot of unpredictibilty involved there . I some times wonder how different my life would have been if I had stayed back in India , or maybe chosen a different university or done a MBA as I originally planned . It would sure be fun to get back into a time machine ..take up the other choices and see what they result in ...!!!!
Now that happens to one in a million people ..what are the chances that it would happen to me ..
Not until today though when I start my internship at Seagate . I come in all dressed up , raring to go and the lady tells me that my name is not in the system . My manager is not in town and the lady who can fix this is in california who doesn't come in until 2 hours later. Some forms which were to be sent by my manager to that lady never went thru ..rest all of the interns head happily to the orientation while I wait there ..1 hr down , 2 , 3 , 4 ,5 ...and I see the interns all heading back happily with the orientation goodies waving at me . I m still there stuck in the lobby .... Finally they figure out a way to get me in ..only to be followed by a cold reception by a computer which doesn't like me too much ..it refuses to install any of the softwares ...The guy helping me says ..." Well its almost like you were not meant to be here ..." ..aha ..thats wat an intern wants to hear on her first day at work !!!! ...
Well so now what are possibilities of all this happening to the same person ...Pretty less you would say ..
Well I dnt think so ..get talking to people and you realize that each one of them have had these chance games ( thats what I like calling them ) ..happening to them some time or the other ...and I guess this unpredictibility is what makes life so much fun ...
Even when we think we have planned out a lot of stuff in our life ..there is still a lot of unpredictibilty involved there . I some times wonder how different my life would have been if I had stayed back in India , or maybe chosen a different university or done a MBA as I originally planned . It would sure be fun to get back into a time machine ..take up the other choices and see what they result in ...!!!!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
A Lesson
I got my detection and estimation marks yest . I got 9/30 . I guess just one more person in that class of 30 has marks less than me , terrible performance .
Why so you may ask ..? The problem is I haven't taken the probability and stochastic class which is the prerequisite for this course . Earlier on I believed I could manage the course by the probability I had learnt in my engineering . I had a few warning signals before I started the course , for once it is a 8000 level course , the toughest one could take , the professor told me its going to be difficult , also I could not do the initial self assessment assignment meant to tell you if one could do the course but I kept telling myself I could do it . Taking up on a challenging task can be quite exciting , that rush of adrenaline saying you can do it ..but if not thought about well can land you into trouble some times .
Why did you take the course you may ask ..? I believed this course could get me a career in medical electronics which seems bleak too after my intern reject from medtronic . I often go back to all the academic and professional decisions I have made in this place and often wish I would have taken them otherwise , if only I had known better .
But then I am not complaining . I believe this is all a learning lesson for making better , informed decision later on in life .
One good thing ,courtesy this jolt I have given up all my slack persisting this semester long to make most of the rest of it knowing if I dnt give my best now ..."Somebody's gonna get real bad.."":--)
I got my detection and estimation marks yest . I got 9/30 . I guess just one more person in that class of 30 has marks less than me , terrible performance .
Why so you may ask ..? The problem is I haven't taken the probability and stochastic class which is the prerequisite for this course . Earlier on I believed I could manage the course by the probability I had learnt in my engineering . I had a few warning signals before I started the course , for once it is a 8000 level course , the toughest one could take , the professor told me its going to be difficult , also I could not do the initial self assessment assignment meant to tell you if one could do the course but I kept telling myself I could do it . Taking up on a challenging task can be quite exciting , that rush of adrenaline saying you can do it ..but if not thought about well can land you into trouble some times .
Why did you take the course you may ask ..? I believed this course could get me a career in medical electronics which seems bleak too after my intern reject from medtronic . I often go back to all the academic and professional decisions I have made in this place and often wish I would have taken them otherwise , if only I had known better .
But then I am not complaining . I believe this is all a learning lesson for making better , informed decision later on in life .
One good thing ,courtesy this jolt I have given up all my slack persisting this semester long to make most of the rest of it knowing if I dnt give my best now ..."Somebody's gonna get real bad.."":--)
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Teaching bug
My teaching bug got the better of me today when I spent 6 hours teaching till i finally hoarse and could not talk anymore . I taught 3rd , 5th grade kids and engineering sophomores all in the same day and answered questions ranging from whether there is electricity in india to wrong transistor connections on a microcontroller circuit board .
You might wonder as to what it is that I am talking about ..well here is the deal ..I volunteer with the minnesota international center as a result of which I got to talk to 3 and 5 grade students about how life for a kid their age in india is ...I got to hip hop dance with those kids and teach them how to do a few bharatnatyam steps in return..and boy were those kids curious ..they had questions ranging from does it snow in india ...do they tie ppl with a rope when they get married ..(they were refer to the mangalsutra ..) ...do kids in india like watching tv,what about video games ..do they have video games , are roads of india made of clay ? how many gods do they have ..are shops in india really small , what jobs do they do ..do they have ramen noodles for lunch ..how much is one dollar in india ruppees , do they still have kings in india ...so on and so forth ...
By the time I had finished giving my fouth presentation , my voice was hoarse but all of it was washed away when I saw the smile on the kids and their eagerness to meet some one new ..it could not have been more rewarding ...
and then I was back with my sophomores trying to debug their circuits , though the ignorance of a child is not there , the gratitude and respect remains ..you may not be able to answer all their questions but the fact that you took the pains for being there for them itself is enough for them ..
getting knowledge is quite a rewarding experience but there is nothing like being able to share it others ...
My teaching bug got the better of me today when I spent 6 hours teaching till i finally hoarse and could not talk anymore . I taught 3rd , 5th grade kids and engineering sophomores all in the same day and answered questions ranging from whether there is electricity in india to wrong transistor connections on a microcontroller circuit board .
You might wonder as to what it is that I am talking about ..well here is the deal ..I volunteer with the minnesota international center as a result of which I got to talk to 3 and 5 grade students about how life for a kid their age in india is ...I got to hip hop dance with those kids and teach them how to do a few bharatnatyam steps in return..and boy were those kids curious ..they had questions ranging from does it snow in india ...do they tie ppl with a rope when they get married ..(they were refer to the mangalsutra ..) ...do kids in india like watching tv,what about video games ..do they have video games , are roads of india made of clay ? how many gods do they have ..are shops in india really small , what jobs do they do ..do they have ramen noodles for lunch ..how much is one dollar in india ruppees , do they still have kings in india ...so on and so forth ...
By the time I had finished giving my fouth presentation , my voice was hoarse but all of it was washed away when I saw the smile on the kids and their eagerness to meet some one new ..it could not have been more rewarding ...
and then I was back with my sophomores trying to debug their circuits , though the ignorance of a child is not there , the gratitude and respect remains ..you may not be able to answer all their questions but the fact that you took the pains for being there for them itself is enough for them ..
getting knowledge is quite a rewarding experience but there is nothing like being able to share it others ...
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Pampering myself ..
After 22 years of leading a financially dependent life ..i suddenly got up one day and realised to my utter surprise that I was finally financially independent ..Now thats a big step in everyone's life ..and I should tell you it feels great ...
So I thought I should celebrate this momentous opportunity in my life ..and what better way to celebrate than to shop ..I went shopping my dear friends ..and I shopped till I fell ..for once I did not care to look at the price tag , convert it to Indian rupees and then stop to wonder if the stuff was really worth it . I bought what I liked and let me tell you it sure feels good ...we ought to pamper ourselves once in a while for all the other time we spend working so that we could get these few moments of pampering ourselves ...
Eating good food , wearing good clothes and doing activities you have always wanted to do ..I believe that should be the sole motive of the money we earn ..
Khali haath aaye the hum ..khali haath jayenge ...
After 22 years of leading a financially dependent life ..i suddenly got up one day and realised to my utter surprise that I was finally financially independent ..Now thats a big step in everyone's life ..and I should tell you it feels great ...
So I thought I should celebrate this momentous opportunity in my life ..and what better way to celebrate than to shop ..I went shopping my dear friends ..and I shopped till I fell ..for once I did not care to look at the price tag , convert it to Indian rupees and then stop to wonder if the stuff was really worth it . I bought what I liked and let me tell you it sure feels good ...we ought to pamper ourselves once in a while for all the other time we spend working so that we could get these few moments of pampering ourselves ...
Eating good food , wearing good clothes and doing activities you have always wanted to do ..I believe that should be the sole motive of the money we earn ..
Khali haath aaye the hum ..khali haath jayenge ...
Processed life ....
Every time i start to cook i begin to realise how processed life here in the US is ...wanna cook ...??? ..put ready to eat masala ..tomatoes ..well we have the tomato puree and the garlic paste ..ok now to vegetables ..frozen cut vegetables ..want a lemon squeeze to add the tangy taste or else take a pick at the preprocessed tamirand paste ...
Lets make rajma you would say ..now thats a exotic dish ..well no more ..you get pre cooked rajma soaked in sodium concentrate ..just put it in with the other puries you have and here you go rajma is ready ..
Well in no mood to cook ..why dnt you just take one of the ready to eat pizzas or paratha and put them into the microwave oven ..add a little salsa to taste ..and ya i guess you will have one of those fruit juices ..well its better we call them sweetend water coz they actually have no natural fruit content..
You dnt even want to do that ..take a cereal bar or a chocolate of the vending machine and eat it while you sit in front of your computer waiting for someone to come online ( sarcasm intended at the singlehood and hence loneliness of grad students ..)
This is not to say that people in India these days dnt do all this stuff ..Its just that I remembered how much time my mom used to spend trying to make stuff as healthy and as fresh for us as possible . Now we just do the post cooking of the already precooked food ..the aroma of the freshly made masalas ...the love and the energy my mom put in to make those dishes is completely missing ...
Somewhere down the line our entire lives are being processed by the technology and competition around us ..the freshness and the love is lagging behind ..but thats the real essence of life and we ought to keep it alive ..
Every time i start to cook i begin to realise how processed life here in the US is ...wanna cook ...??? ..put ready to eat masala ..tomatoes ..well we have the tomato puree and the garlic paste ..ok now to vegetables ..frozen cut vegetables ..want a lemon squeeze to add the tangy taste or else take a pick at the preprocessed tamirand paste ...
Lets make rajma you would say ..now thats a exotic dish ..well no more ..you get pre cooked rajma soaked in sodium concentrate ..just put it in with the other puries you have and here you go rajma is ready ..
Well in no mood to cook ..why dnt you just take one of the ready to eat pizzas or paratha and put them into the microwave oven ..add a little salsa to taste ..and ya i guess you will have one of those fruit juices ..well its better we call them sweetend water coz they actually have no natural fruit content..
You dnt even want to do that ..take a cereal bar or a chocolate of the vending machine and eat it while you sit in front of your computer waiting for someone to come online ( sarcasm intended at the singlehood and hence loneliness of grad students ..)
This is not to say that people in India these days dnt do all this stuff ..Its just that I remembered how much time my mom used to spend trying to make stuff as healthy and as fresh for us as possible . Now we just do the post cooking of the already precooked food ..the aroma of the freshly made masalas ...the love and the energy my mom put in to make those dishes is completely missing ...
Somewhere down the line our entire lives are being processed by the technology and competition around us ..the freshness and the love is lagging behind ..but thats the real essence of life and we ought to keep it alive ..
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
-30 c
They always tell you but then who wants to listen . Minnesota - its really cold will you be able to survive the cold..think again ...but no we wouldn't listen ..after all we are on a mission to change this world by doing research , how can such small things matter ..surely they will not ..
So here we arrive , we stock ourselves with weapons for the winter a 1 kg downjacket , uncountable no of sweat shirts , gloves , thermals a nice fashionable cap ..who is afraid of the winter if you are so well stocked ..
And then comes my darling winters , it first tests your immune system with minor snow falls and winter chills , you are happy the free flu shots from boyton seem to working . Some one says that global warming has arrived and this time the winter is going to be mild . You ponder over the ill effects of global warming for a while and then realise that as long it serves to keep the winter at bay you would rather want it , than act to take GW away . With all the tensions for the winters pacified you get back to your task of changing the world .
But then winter has a way of catching you off the hold . All this while when you were being complacent about the winter , it was working its way through you immune system and just when the time is ready it strikes ...phew and then you suddenly realise its -30 C .
But then I was nicely stocked for the winter rite , the eternal optimist that I am , I think I can survive it . So here I go - Day 1 trying to make it to the univ , after all its just a 15 min , what worse can happen in 15 min . Here I am all decked ready to face the cold ..ok so now ..1,2 ,3 and I am out of the confines of my cosy apt ...First thoughts ..well its not that bad ..I can make it ...
5 mins down ..my nose starts freezing ..the cold vapours from my mouth and nose start freezing on my specs , I take them off to clean to them , realise the ice is frozen on top of it and it wouldn't go off ..so I stove them into my pocket .
Ok so now 5 inches of my face ..i.e my eyes and half of meter of legs ( covered only by a single layer of jeans ) are most prone to windchill ..but then thats very less ..what can possibly go wrng ..2 mins down ..my eyes start aching , i have a terrible headache ..and it seems some one has taken a ice pack , put needles into it and wrapped it around my leg ..Well there I am near the bus stop ,lets take a bus I decide ...I wait for 4 mins ..the next bus is still 5 mins away ..I decide I can walk rest of the distance ...there thats the biggest mistake I could have ever made ..5 mins at the bus stop has never killed anyone but 5 min walk in the cold has ..
5 more mins down the line I can hardly feel any part of my body and now to add to it all , the winter accesories that I have on me are pushing me down with their weight ..
There I can see the univ some distance away ...I wonder if i can make it till there but then I remind myself that I should survive to tell this story of mine ...
I survive ..
They always tell you but then who wants to listen . Minnesota - its really cold will you be able to survive the cold..think again ...but no we wouldn't listen ..after all we are on a mission to change this world by doing research , how can such small things matter ..surely they will not ..
So here we arrive , we stock ourselves with weapons for the winter a 1 kg downjacket , uncountable no of sweat shirts , gloves , thermals a nice fashionable cap ..who is afraid of the winter if you are so well stocked ..
And then comes my darling winters , it first tests your immune system with minor snow falls and winter chills , you are happy the free flu shots from boyton seem to working . Some one says that global warming has arrived and this time the winter is going to be mild . You ponder over the ill effects of global warming for a while and then realise that as long it serves to keep the winter at bay you would rather want it , than act to take GW away . With all the tensions for the winters pacified you get back to your task of changing the world .
But then winter has a way of catching you off the hold . All this while when you were being complacent about the winter , it was working its way through you immune system and just when the time is ready it strikes ...phew and then you suddenly realise its -30 C .
But then I was nicely stocked for the winter rite , the eternal optimist that I am , I think I can survive it . So here I go - Day 1 trying to make it to the univ , after all its just a 15 min , what worse can happen in 15 min . Here I am all decked ready to face the cold ..ok so now ..1,2 ,3 and I am out of the confines of my cosy apt ...First thoughts ..well its not that bad ..I can make it ...
5 mins down ..my nose starts freezing ..the cold vapours from my mouth and nose start freezing on my specs , I take them off to clean to them , realise the ice is frozen on top of it and it wouldn't go off ..so I stove them into my pocket .
Ok so now 5 inches of my face ..i.e my eyes and half of meter of legs ( covered only by a single layer of jeans ) are most prone to windchill ..but then thats very less ..what can possibly go wrng ..2 mins down ..my eyes start aching , i have a terrible headache ..and it seems some one has taken a ice pack , put needles into it and wrapped it around my leg ..Well there I am near the bus stop ,lets take a bus I decide ...I wait for 4 mins ..the next bus is still 5 mins away ..I decide I can walk rest of the distance ...there thats the biggest mistake I could have ever made ..5 mins at the bus stop has never killed anyone but 5 min walk in the cold has ..
5 more mins down the line I can hardly feel any part of my body and now to add to it all , the winter accesories that I have on me are pushing me down with their weight ..
There I can see the univ some distance away ...I wonder if i can make it till there but then I remind myself that I should survive to tell this story of mine ...
I survive ..
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Finally I write ..
People have been wondering as to why I have stopped writing . Now I have no specific reasons actually . Lethargy and montonicity of life maybe . Life has become quite comfortable after being here for 5 months now . My apt feels like home and people I know feel like friends too . No offence ment but intially everybody starts out as aquantainces ....
I remember my initial days here ..I used to just wonder if I would ever feel comfortable in this place and with all these people around but its amazing how life has a way of making pieces fall into their place ..just give it the desired amount of time and life can do wonders to you .
The only regret ..I am moved far away from books ..been ages since I read one ...
The most happening thing ..my teaching assistantship ..I love it ..although I hate getting up so early in the morning and being their in the lab ..2 hours down the line I am happy that I did it ..for the first time in my life I am getting to put myself in the teacher's shoes and mind you ..it is a totally differnt world out there .
I get night mares the day before the lab thinking whether I will be able to perform satisfactorily or not ...and my joy knows no bounds when I am able to solve so one's problem and make them understand something . It sure is a noble profession ..as long as people take it that way . I have known too many bad teachers in my life to actually believe that ...
So that quite sums up what been happening around here ..apart from the minnesotan winter which has been making headlines .. - 34 C ..can you believe that ..feels like hundred of nails piercing your face ..everytime the wind hits you .
Keep surviving for you never know when you may find a reason to start living ...
People have been wondering as to why I have stopped writing . Now I have no specific reasons actually . Lethargy and montonicity of life maybe . Life has become quite comfortable after being here for 5 months now . My apt feels like home and people I know feel like friends too . No offence ment but intially everybody starts out as aquantainces ....
I remember my initial days here ..I used to just wonder if I would ever feel comfortable in this place and with all these people around but its amazing how life has a way of making pieces fall into their place ..just give it the desired amount of time and life can do wonders to you .
The only regret ..I am moved far away from books ..been ages since I read one ...
The most happening thing ..my teaching assistantship ..I love it ..although I hate getting up so early in the morning and being their in the lab ..2 hours down the line I am happy that I did it ..for the first time in my life I am getting to put myself in the teacher's shoes and mind you ..it is a totally differnt world out there .
I get night mares the day before the lab thinking whether I will be able to perform satisfactorily or not ...and my joy knows no bounds when I am able to solve so one's problem and make them understand something . It sure is a noble profession ..as long as people take it that way . I have known too many bad teachers in my life to actually believe that ...
So that quite sums up what been happening around here ..apart from the minnesotan winter which has been making headlines .. - 34 C ..can you believe that ..feels like hundred of nails piercing your face ..everytime the wind hits you .
Keep surviving for you never know when you may find a reason to start living ...
Friday, November 24, 2006
Restrooms...
Well thats quite not a topic one writes about but then wats life without a pinch of comedy in it ..infact we spend so much of our life in the restrooms that they sure deserve to be written about ..
Actually when I started thinkin about this post it was supposed to about aeroplanes and their cramped seating spaces ..i actually flew to St.Louis just yest to spend thanksgiving at my cousin's place . ..got into one of these domestic airlines which have hardly leg space ..even to get to your seat you have to walk sideways ..added to that if you have a fat lady sitting beside you who just cannot fit into the space provided ..there are quite a lot of adjustments to be done ..
Coming back to restrooms ..a note of caution.if you suffer from a minor case of claustrophobia like i do ..or better put if you are a lover of free spaces ..do not use the restrooms on board a domestic flight until you absolutely need to ..there is hardly any space for you to fit into ..particularly for a country like USA which has so many obese people ..(also US is a equal opportunity employer you see !!)..i had a hard time imaginin how we would get the fat lady beside me out of the restroom if she got stuck in there ..
perhaps we could use a planning algorthim which would give us the optimal steps to take her out ..!!
Ya well so restrooms haan ..people just tend to ignore their importance ..i think back home we loose a lot of efficiency because of the lack of proper restrooms ..along with issues like primary education , poverty and health care I think our government should also tackle the issue of setting up proper restrooms ..that should we lead to significant improvement in our GDP ..:-)
Well thats quite not a topic one writes about but then wats life without a pinch of comedy in it ..infact we spend so much of our life in the restrooms that they sure deserve to be written about ..
Actually when I started thinkin about this post it was supposed to about aeroplanes and their cramped seating spaces ..i actually flew to St.Louis just yest to spend thanksgiving at my cousin's place . ..got into one of these domestic airlines which have hardly leg space ..even to get to your seat you have to walk sideways ..added to that if you have a fat lady sitting beside you who just cannot fit into the space provided ..there are quite a lot of adjustments to be done ..
Coming back to restrooms ..a note of caution.if you suffer from a minor case of claustrophobia like i do ..or better put if you are a lover of free spaces ..do not use the restrooms on board a domestic flight until you absolutely need to ..there is hardly any space for you to fit into ..particularly for a country like USA which has so many obese people ..(also US is a equal opportunity employer you see !!)..i had a hard time imaginin how we would get the fat lady beside me out of the restroom if she got stuck in there ..
perhaps we could use a planning algorthim which would give us the optimal steps to take her out ..!!
Ya well so restrooms haan ..people just tend to ignore their importance ..i think back home we loose a lot of efficiency because of the lack of proper restrooms ..along with issues like primary education , poverty and health care I think our government should also tackle the issue of setting up proper restrooms ..that should we lead to significant improvement in our GDP ..:-)
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Teaching
Got my mid sem papers today ..My prof wants us to redo the paper and submit it again . His main emphasis is on the fact that we should get understand the course material well ..so during the exam maybe due to some time constraints we may not have been able to solve the problem but that doesnt mean we should not be given the chance to understand it well and do it .
The education system here in the US amazes me alot ..I have seriously come to like it a lot..you dnt need to mug anything for the exam coz the emphasis is on the fact that did you understand stuff or not ..so get all the books and papers you want to ..refer to them and solve the exam ..there is no question which requires you to write pages and pages of unrelavent information ..just conceptual questions ..
The professor here take up their jobs coz they love teaching and they do make sure that they are really good at it ..
Got my mid sem papers today ..My prof wants us to redo the paper and submit it again . His main emphasis is on the fact that we should get understand the course material well ..so during the exam maybe due to some time constraints we may not have been able to solve the problem but that doesnt mean we should not be given the chance to understand it well and do it .
The education system here in the US amazes me alot ..I have seriously come to like it a lot..you dnt need to mug anything for the exam coz the emphasis is on the fact that did you understand stuff or not ..so get all the books and papers you want to ..refer to them and solve the exam ..there is no question which requires you to write pages and pages of unrelavent information ..just conceptual questions ..
The professor here take up their jobs coz they love teaching and they do make sure that they are really good at it ..
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Writer's block
Days of inactivity at the blogger has created a void in me ...ppl around me are getting worried too ..that smthing's wrong with me that i m am not writing my blog ..actually i am stuffering by something called the writer's block ..so i just decided to pen downs some random stuff just to get me goin ..
So if i look around as to what is it that has touched me in the past few days ..its the camaderie of the Erie street people I stay with . Yest was Shiva's bday ..he along with the people around took so much pains to cook a lavish dinner for all the 15 of us ..even on sunday the girls cooked up really good meal for all of us ( with the spices specifically reduced for me !!!)..this act of pure selflessness is what touched me ..each one of them could have gone their own way ..saying that have work to do ..and just cooked for themselves ...these ppl smtimes make me feel like a really selfish person ..
Days of inactivity at the blogger has created a void in me ...ppl around me are getting worried too ..that smthing's wrong with me that i m am not writing my blog ..actually i am stuffering by something called the writer's block ..so i just decided to pen downs some random stuff just to get me goin ..
So if i look around as to what is it that has touched me in the past few days ..its the camaderie of the Erie street people I stay with . Yest was Shiva's bday ..he along with the people around took so much pains to cook a lavish dinner for all the 15 of us ..even on sunday the girls cooked up really good meal for all of us ( with the spices specifically reduced for me !!!)..this act of pure selflessness is what touched me ..each one of them could have gone their own way ..saying that have work to do ..and just cooked for themselves ...these ppl smtimes make me feel like a really selfish person ..
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