A pseudo-secular...

I thought all Indians in USA were conservatives! Atleast that's the image those 'NRIs' I've met give me. Good work dude. Lurking in web-portals like rediff these right-wing lunatics have nothing but aid 'nationalist' parties like RSS or its 'family members' and hooting for 'conservatives' and asking for the 'elimination' of all 'pseudo-secularists.' Pseudo-secular because we don't agree with your rabid calls for murdering anyone who don't agree with your ultra view of 'social justice?' All the while staying in safe places like the USA?

Ajai Raj please come to India to take on idiots like Jayalalitha, Bal Thackarey and of that ilk.

Yeah!

About a month back, I tried to get a broadband connection with Iqara. The sales guy told me to get what he thought would be correct for me. I did sign up with them and paid them Rs 1702. They could not configure my computer, and they told me to first 'upgrade' from Windows 2000 to windows XP, then to XP SP2, install windows 98 in a separate partition, format my harddisk and reinstall both 98 and XP. I was tired of everything and I just wanted my money back for the services not used. I knew I would not get back the installation charges and modem rent for the first month, but I expected atleast 1/3rd of the money back. Repeated calls to the salesman went unanswered, he never picked up his mobile phone, his 'friend' picking up to say he has gone on a vacation, etc. Even the sales manager said he would not return any of my money. They thought they could con me out of it, but they forgot one thing - I had their new cable modem worth Rs. 5000. My mom and I were to shift to different cities at the same time - she would be going to stay with my dad and I would be in this big, bad city. So, I conveniently 'forgot to return it' while moving out. After more than a month now, they have refunded me the whole amount, signed by the same sales manager who told it is not their company policy to refund completely. Ah! Sweet victory. Now, how do I return the modem to them?

paypacket

Got my first paypacket today, woohoo!
Now, what would jesus do?

Rebellious

What makes a rebel a rebel? a punk a punk? Why do some people deliberately go against established norms? Just because one person doesn't want to go by the 'social conventions' make him a bad person? What is wrong about body piercing and having pink hair? There is too much pressure to conform to a 'safe' norm. My boss told me how he used to indulge in petty vandalism when he was a student in London, after drinking sessions. He told me how he thought that was bad but still had to conform otherwise he would have 'lost many friends' by standing aside. I started doing some experiments on my own. I started giving my seat in buses to ladies, held door open for women, kept the lift door open when people were rushing, let people ahead of me in queues, always used British spelling for all communication, gave way to people in a hurry. People were aghasted by what I did, they looked at me like I was crazy. Women (the ones involved in the experiment) did not know what to do when I got up in a bus or opened doors for them.

yahoo!!!

yahoo has given me 1 GB of space. Yahoo!!!! Adding that to 1GB of rediff, 2GB of gmail, how much space does a man need anyway? It is just 6 feet at the end.

A Wedding

One member of the tiny marketing team is on a 2-week holiday for his wedding that was yesterday. As the size was effectively reduced by 1/3rd, looks like I have some more work or 'opportunities to prove myself.' 6 of us from the office went there squeezed into a tiny car, but reached there. It took us 50 minutes to travel a distance of 4 kilometres and they said the traffic was moderate! The reception was not much different from a Tamil wedding, except the saris had more gold than a tiny gold mine and there was a buffet instead of a long line of banana leafs. The people I went with joked a lot about eating a mountain but the reality was different – they made me look gluttonous in comparison, and I had only one round at the table.

A lot of my b-school classmates are getting married (in a hurry), WHY?

Weekend

Yesterday was a slow day. Woke up at 4 pm, got ready for a get together at 5 am. Turns out to be one guy's birthday. Went to Juhu chowpatty. Saw a lot of 'couples' sitting at the end of the beach and 'doing some stuff.' Then, waited for this guy nicknamed 'kid' to meet us up, for over 45 minutes. Then, went to this supposedy Italian restaurant in 7 Bungalows area. Got the best pizza I've ever eaten - with sausage and chicken. Chain restaurants like pizza hut or pizza corner or domino's can't even stand before that quaint little restaurant. Also served my favourite dish - fish an chips, but was not as good.

Today, started early to go to a redlight area nearby, as a part of an AIDS awareness campaign conducted by an NGO. Was warned that I would become queasy about that place - supposed to be very dirty and filthy. It was just like another slum in Mumbai and another low income area in Chennai. A lot of first times for me today - visited the first police outpost/station in my life (to get permission to conduct that program), entered the first proper slum, the first red light area, first time in Eastern Bombay. I don't know why such areas are called red light areas, did not see a single red light anywhere, I wonder if there are proper lights atleast. Also did not see muchw women, but a lot of eunuchs. Distributed a lot of condoms and soaps. They tell me that many men in Mumbai actually prefer eunuchs to women. Was interviewed by an afternoon paper which comes out in the morning (again, first). This will be first time for a newspaper, but had made a radio appearance on my last day in Chennai.

Still got half a day before me to kill.