Half-full or Half-empty?

An optimist views a cup as half-full while a pessimist sees it as half-empty. What one sees as a risk, the other sees as an opportunity. You can either be afraid of change, or you can embrace it. These oft-heard phrases and more point to that lens with which you see the world: your perspective. Whenever I get a chance to travel, I have been amazed at how my own perspective changes everytime. India is a country moving along at such a frentic pace throwing up kaleidoscopic images with a sea of changes, making one's imagination and ancitipation run wild. But this is not about me, this is about how the world seeing India has discarded its old lens in favor of a bright and more colorful one, how liabilities can quickly turn into assets. These are some thoughts on the power of perspective.
Probably a decade ago, all of India's woes could be traced back to one word: population. How could the government possibly provide for all the essential needs when the consumers of those very needs are rising at an exponential rate? Fast forward to today and the word "population" has been replaced with the word "market". Car makers, cell phone providers, technology giants, fashion moguls, advertising bigwigs and the list goes on....have all made India home due to the very presence of this growing "market". Movies and cricket, the country's 2 main lifelines have comfortably followed suit. Bollywood is no longer a nomenclature rip-off of the international movie scene, it now hosts some Oscar-winning talent. There is an explosion of interest around the world in understanding the nuts and bolts of this country, with media, columnists, writers, and publishers descending on a regular basis, not worried about the stereotyped image of the country as a dust-bowl filled with traffic congestions, animals on the road or the extra spicy food levels causing a flutter or two in the stomach. I am yet to hear a single word of complaint from any international cricketer playing in the Indian Premier League. On the contrary, some of the words effused by the players on the on-field conditions, accommodations and such would have given Lord Byron a run for his money. Even Shane Warne seems to have summoned enough courage to leave his can of pasta at home, and place his trust in the local food, if its good enough for the corporate heads and the Bollywood stars, it cant' be that bad, can it? Business and perspective definitely mix very well, with one outdoing the other in checking where the grass is "greener".

I must be off now, time to give my glasses a good polish.

Pot pourri

India, a land of diverse cultures and a blend of people who almost challenge you to find similarities between one another. Strangely enough, one often is exposed to the entire gamut of this diversity while living abroad. Over a period of time, certain peculiar characteristics of every community become more apparent that it no more requires a very discerning eye. This is purely a satirical view-point with no intention of causing offence, so bouquets and brickbats are always welcome.
The Telugu clan have succeeded in adding a whole new dimension to networking. The unity is there to be seen from the time they land in the country to the queues on a cold wintry 6am morning waiting for the Thanksgiving deals and snatching up a few that even the store-owners did'nt know existed. The Gujjus know a thing or two about business for sure...Harvard and Wharton, please step aside. After establishing their dominance over the Indian grocery store market, the influence of this community has extended well into the motels across the land. In my last visit to a Days Inn, the motel owner was so keen to make me feel at home that an innocent query regarding a complimentary breakfast was dealt with in emphatic fashion- "the milk is in the fridge, the cereals are in the kitchen counter". The Tamilians however are oblivious to such developments in other communities. As long as at least 10 of them can get together over idlis and pots of sambar, the world is a playground. The more adventurous ones venture out on roadtrips and leave behind some tamarind rice and pickles at strategic landmarks just to remind the future visitors of their presence in the area. You could spot the Mumbaite in a crowd of tourists quite easily. As the rest of the touring party is clearly fascinated by the sights and sounds of the territory, the Mumbaite has a smirk on his face...Apne Mumbai mein bhi yeh sab dekha hai maine. Most conversations with the Mumbaite are about, involve, compare, extoll or do all of the above with Mumbai to the point that one wonders whether Mumbai is in India or vice-versa. I have also finally discovered how Punjabis are completely at ease whether at work or play. Almost all of them are under a false security that a back-up career in singing is always available. With the music companies promoting albums of anyone murmuring some Punjabi in the form of bhangra pop, it would be tough to spoil their reverie. The Mallus have been very disappointing in the US, mainly due to their paucity in the country. Apparently, a number of them took the Emirates flight from Kerala in the hope of making it across the Atlantic, but the stop-over at Gulf was too tempting and a mass exodus was witnessed. I have'nt really had a chance to catch up with my Kannadiga friends of late since I hear that they are still trying to protest the tragic death of the movie superstar. Recent exposure to the Kashmiri culture has seen me observe a penchant to making dishes with unpronouncable names with ingredients like lotus roots that the common man would think twice before incorporating in a cooking routine.
Definitely a diverse bunch we are, but it would'nt be even half as fun if it were otherwise. Catch you all next time around...

Tech Speak

A bit of a hiatus and I am back with renewed vigor to continue ties with my blog. The last week or so has seen me travel a bit on a short holiday, which means waiting at airports amidst a sea of people, security checks and the whole jazz. It is quite amazing how startling revelations can be made in the most unusual of circumstances. A cursory glance at my surroundings saw various people indulging in peculiar activities to keep themselves occupied and ease the burden of waiting for those planes that never seem to take off on time. I often feel it is a conspiracy between the airline industry and the restaurants/bookstores/giftshops et all to boost their respective businesses and make the most out of a weary traveler. But, one sight stood out like a sore thumb - everyone seemed to have some gadget or gizmo hooked to parts of their body. They even carried it with consummate elan making those gadgets look like a mere extension of their beings. With the alacrity that could be associated only with someone being startled in the midst of a Sunday afternoon siesta, I took a good hard look at myself- cell-phone, ipod and a laptop in tow. Throughout my childhood, I had admired this character on TV called "giant robot" and wondered how nice it would be if I could acquire some of those powers. I didn't quite realize how quickly those flights of fantasy were turning into a reality. At least, I have started looking like one, good for starters. How did this happen to me? Afterall, I have reserved only the most sarcastic and scornful expressions for anyone embracing technology to such an extent that one loses the distinction between the "embracer" and the "embracee". There was a time I used to know how to record a program on TV through a VCR. In fact, I was so adept at it that I performed the trick at households of neighbors and friends who dared to let me tinker with their prized possessions. The triumphant look bordering on a sneer has now been replaced by an expression you would get if you asked a psychology major to eke out Einstein's theory of relativity. (disclaimer: I have great respect for psychology majors). One look at the panel of the electronic instruments today and you start feeling extremely challenged. Just when you being to feel a sense of mastery over them, boom...here's the next new thing you must have and you are back to square one. How did we even survive before the advent and invasion of technology into our lives? Can I dare you to go back to those times for even a few days?

Wake up and smell the coffee

A wise man once said "A newspaper is a device that makes the fool more ignorant and the crazy, even crazier". My eyes popped open as I read this since I read any newspaper passionately and did not want my mental stability or intellectual prowess questioned by someone unleashing pearls of wisdom. Nevertheless, it brought my mind back to one of the simple joys in life- waking up to rays of sunshine, coffee and yes, a newspaper. Now this is a habit I sorely missed during my two years of grad life because you really dont have the time. Ok, I can almost see you raise your eyebrows in disbelief, so lets try more plausible explanations. As I dared to dream about subscribing to a newspaper in good old fashioned hard copies, I could almost hear a voice condemning such reckless desires that your status as a student forbids you from conjuring. With the electronic media feeding you everything that you would rather not know, it seemed close to sacrilege to embark on such a journey of luxuries. Plus, your psyche as a grad student teaches you to look at anything on paper with suspicion and the computer as your long lost friend.

Finally there came the day when I relinquished my student status and landed in the valley of the sun, Arizona. In almost a flash of brilliance, I jumped on a deal that would deliver a newspaper to my place every single day for an amount the salesman insisted was "irresistable". The only way to resist temptation is indeed to give in to it. It was 6am in the morning and the alarm sounded like Beethoven reserving his best to wake me up. I leaped out of bed and made a dash for the door and what greeted me was totally contrary to expectations. Here was the valley's paper, Arizona Republic folded, wrapped and packaged in plastic with a rubber band on it. In a fit of rage, I almost picked up the phone and called the salesman since I wanted just one newspaper a day and not the entire neighborhood's quota. But no, this was just today's paper, the very size of it would have made any weight-lifter smack his hands in glee. Now, I am not much of an environmentalist like some hard core campaigners. Dont get me wrong, I still subscribe to the ideas of leaving the world a better place and will do my bit to plaster that hole in the ozone layer.However, I couldnt help but sympathize with the tree that must have been felled and misused to produce this kind of a product. Apart from a circus expert, I couldnt fathom anyone daring to balance a cuppa and a paper in one sitting. My mind quickly races back to the days of yore...if only I could go back in time...

Small beginnings...

I have always been reluctant to exercise my verbal freedom on the internet but the number of blog articles I have been reading the last few days probably burst my bubble of creativity. Not quite sure when, but perhaps it was those wonderful essays on topics no one really cared about I wrote as a kid that instilled ideas of being a writer some day in me. The enthusiasm boiled, rose and spilled over to various avenues in my life that I even considered (a weak moment, I admit) planting a RK Narayan poster amidst sporting icons, rock stars and cineblitz promoted bollywood stars who adorned various corners of my room. Somewhere down the line, better sense started to prevail and I started engaging in activities that fit my profile better (or so I thought), for example engineering. Several people turn to blogging or writing when they run out of challenges in their current occupation or find whatever they are doing way too challenging. I strictly belong to the latter community. Just as I thought I was getting into a fairly straightforward task of creating a blog account, a very difficult proposition in the form of selecting a name for the blog presented itself. Why I chose the name that I did kind of beats me now. Maybe my sub-conscious mind refuses to let go of the path I have chosen in electrical engineering. Or, perhaps it was because blue is one of my favorite colors and electric blue seemed a neat way of putting the two reasons together. I even considered explaining it away as having a strong co-relation to my "electrifying" being but I decided it is not fair game to state such lies in my very first blog.
Now that the nitty-gritties have been dealt with, its time for some serious blogging indeed. Watch this space for more, I hope to make it worth your while.

Until next time...