Damn’d

I used to blog earlier at http://kihba.blogspot.com

Had been thinking about getting a dedicated domain name for a long long time….Now that i look at my old blog, realise its been almost 6 months since i wrote anything…

Sure a lot has happened in the last 6 months…moved to the US (Dallas)…then moved from Dallas to New Jersey…got married…etc, etc, you get the drift.

Seems like my procrastination is not over as yet…its almost a month since i registered this domain…

hopefully, the posting will more regular…though the direction is going to change a bit…will have more stuff on stuff that i like including Digital media, advertising, photography, startups, customer service, etc, etc.

cheers

abhik

Rock music in Hindi(lyrics in Hindi) with a very distinctive indian identity…instead of rehashing the traditional rock legends as has been the norm till now

Check out this video …and the audience going wild

For those who dont know what i am talking about, the context is here !

…yes, that’s apparently amount of credit card debt in America according to cbn.com

And what does CBN want people to do ?

Donate money to CBN and by doing that, the good Lord will take care of their debts…

Saw this ad in the gym…was surprised to see Bill G in an ad for shoes (You’d think a billionaire would have an entire store delivered to his house, wouldncha )…and since it was on mute, couldnt really make sense of it….

check it out…awesome Now if only IE 8 would work properly instead of constantly swithching to compatability mode

Yeah…its quite amazing to see the expression on firang’s faces when they find out, how much does it cost for a night at The Leela in Bangalore

While, life in India maybe ‘cheap’ for the common man, its way more expensive for the rich…Here are some of the things which are more expensive in India than in the US…

1.) Cars
2.) Petrol
3.) Wine (and cheese)
4.) 5 star hotel rooms
5.) High end cellphone handsets

So the millionaires of Mumbai, rejoice, coz you have way more snob value for your money, than the ‘poor’ millionaires of Manhattan

P.S: This is based on a simple currency conversion. If you take into account economics(Purchasing power parity and other such Indices), the cost goes way up in India

hehe…that will be some day when indians start emigrating to the USA because its cheaper to live in the US

What changed ?

Read an interesting post here, which has an ongoing discussion about what has changed in India, and its people over the last couple of decades…and how people are more patriotic these days..(or nationalistic as one of the commenters put it)

Well i think a lot began to change the day cable TV came along into our lives For those who might take me too literally, am referring to the time when liberalisation was ushered in and the ‘protected’ Indian economy was opened to the world…

Till then India was like the proverbial frog, unhappy in its own well but not ready to pollute its young minds with western (read US) cultures…one was supposed to work towards being a good student, get a stable job (Read doctors, lawyers, engineers) get married, procreate and….you get the drift…

Going abroad (for either work or studies) was a ‘dream’ for most of middle class India…and people were happy in their own sort of way the elite and the meritorious (mostly IITians) continued to go abroad, get their PhD’s and live the life…

i.e till Cable TV changed our lives

Suddenly, ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ was popular in Bihar, and young impressionable minds were exposed to a whole new world out there. With the opening up of the economy, the opportunities increased manifold.

The broadband bust in the US resulted in excess(and cheap) bandwidth across the globe, and the americans (and a few enterprising Indians) realised that a lot of work could be done in India, both cheaply and efficiently

The IT success story has been documented enough and although i wouldnt go out and say its the sole reason, i believe it has been responsible to a great deal,for the changes that we are seeing in India today…

suddenly, you had a whole bunch of people who got a chance to travel all over the world, soak in different cultures, understand what it means to be an ‘alien’ in a different country…and how amazing it feels to be back in India.

Till then, ‘The American Dream’ was seen as the best thing that could happen to a person…but when most people got the chance to actually live it, they realised that there was a price to pay for such independence and economic prosperity…but am digressing…

The IT boom had a ripple effect on other sectors in the economy…Housing, education, entertainment, transportation, public infrastructure…

All of a sudden, you had a group of people with access to money and who were willing to pay for ‘world class’ facilities…and this resulted in a windfall for people in India who were willing to provide such ’support’ services…

Suddenly, it was possible to work in India and earn enough to live a lifestyle which would be comparble to what one might experience abroad…ofcourse it wasnt exactly the same thing, but when you put a price to the cost of living close to your friends, family and as a first citizen, it felt good to be an Indian living in India

so coming back to what changed ?

Well, India did…and in enough ways to make you feel proud and CONFIDENT to be an Indian..enough for people to believe that first generation billionaires could be created in India…

So that’s why, you have a generation of indians who are comfortable with the ideals of the west, but are more importantly aware of what it means to be an Indian( So what if you ape the west and put your hand on your heart while the national anthem is on…)

Unfortunately, this change has touched only a small fraction of India…it needs to touch a lot more people…

“Surgery Required for new Sexual Position “

“Repopulation of Africa begins”…

Surprised at whats this. Well, according to the Onion’s June 22 2056 issue, these are some of the headlines you might get to read if you live till then…

If you enjoy humour, this is definitely worth a read

And if your marriage is struggling, check out “Tips for a successful Marriage” …your current wife will appear far more appealing in perspective

The things that humans tend to do to other human beings(living or dead) in the name of science/art/technology/blah blah…amazing!!

My first reaction on seeing some of the images was..eeew!! Gross!!

But then, i explored some more here.

It seems that apart from catering to the weird voyeuristic tendencies of mankind, they also serve a very noble educational purpose…Don’t believe me?? Read the visitor comments

Check it out if you can sometime…Your $30 entry fee might be worth it as you just might end up giving up smoking on seeing somebody else’s blackened lungs.

Else, you can always use it as a topic for polite dinner conversation, just as dessert is being served and the aunties are the end of your frayed nerves

Photo courtesy: http://www.ohmyweird.com/2007/08/18/human-bodies-exhibition/

I usually dont read movie reviews…well maybe a synopsis once in a while but definitely not reviews…the concept somehow seems lost on me (i mean kya guaranty hai jo kisi aur ko pasand aaya hai, woh aap ko bhi pasand aayega..vice versa )

Anyway..this is not a review about Amu…which i just happend to pick up at the store because it was renting for $1 and had a nice pic of Konkona s Sharma…:)

Ohk, i picked it up because i am still a 2 week old FOB part time immigrant and the synopsis mentioned a something about an indian american living in LA going back to india to find out about her roots..and stuff like that…Seemed interesting…and i also wanted to see how well ankur khanna could act

Though the director is not a stephanian, it seemed like it could have been made by a stephanian (She’s from Miranda House…which used to be the female equivalent of Stephen’s back when it was an all male college)…The inital part of the movie brought back pleasant memories of Delhi…

Somehow, seeing college on screen always makes me nostalgic…reminds me of the time when we were such stupid idiots (read idealists )…the desire to do something different…to make movies…advertising…photography…social service…politics…change the world …the intent not to do an MBA and sell your soul to America…and instead do something for india…

Its been an interesting 7 years since i walked out of those gates…and what am i doing now ? Selling IT solutions to American clients in America…after doing an MBA from IIM L…sometimes the cliches do come true while you are busy planning instead of acting on your inner voices…:)

Ohk…enough drama…the point is, i was feeling nostaligic about college…more like the good times we had in college… after seeing the movie (which btw does not have anything to do with St. Stephen’s and is instead about the 1984 riots and a person finding her roots)

The last time i felt anything like this was when i saw ‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi‘…but then, it was in the luxurious environs of a 5-star resort in Khandala..and i had other interesting company to keep nostalgia at bay

Anyways…this post seems to have meandered quite a bit to convey this message…go watch this movie if you like alternative cinema..or for that matter, even if you dont like it…trust me, you wont be disappointed..ankur’s a bit woody at times but Konkona is a blast…and if you are a bong…you will go ballistic too

Its been only 5 days…and already feels like a lifetime..Still feels as if i am on a business trip here and will be going back in a few days..

Nada!! thats not going to happen now for some time…and the US is going to be home for a couple of years at least (:

Procrastination – thats one habit which seems like, will go away during my stay here…Why…becoz, in the last 4 days, i have done the following:

-> Applied for a Social Security Number
-> Completed all joining paperwork
-> Applied for a State ID
-> Opened a bank account
-> Saw about 10 apartments and finalised one today.
-> Signed up for electricity for the apartment (Yes, you have to get your own connection)

and all this apart from regular work at office

Things still to do:(

-> Select a cable & internet connection
-> Buy furniture and linen
-> Get a Driver’s license (This is something i am dreading getting done)

Whoa…am actually proud of my self And Abhijeet, thank you for all you did in Bangalore for the house…realise now how much i took you for granted