Boomerang

My brother sent me a boomerang from Australia for my 22nd birthday. It was a wooden boomerang nicely hand-carved. He remembered that I was in awe of all those boomerangs and wondered on how they worked. I guess I got to know boomerangs from watching all Jungle Book when I was younger. I loved the way Mougli carved his own boomerang out of jungle woods to hunt and to protect his family of wolves. To me, boomerangs are so amazing even today. If thrown the right way, which is apparently very hard and needs lots of practice, it would make a perfect flight around a pre-determined curve and return to the thrower.

I have had this boomerang for a few years now and have not tried to throw it even once. I have safely and artistically hung it using two glass pushpins on my wall. I have dreamt for so long to throw a perfect boomerang but I have also worried that I might break it. I have actually forced myself from living one of my own dreams from my younger days. I am making assumptions in my life that to pursue ones dreams, one has to give up something else. I don't know yet if that is true, as I have never taken that step to disprove myself. It is like the chicken or the egg thing.

The day I pick that boomerang of the wall and throw it across our thick polluted atmosphere will be the day I will really start believing in myself. I hope that day comes sooner than later.

The beginning of a journey...

Originally I started posting this as a comment on my previous post. But then, I ended up writing more than what I initially intended to. I wanted this to be a continuation of the last discussion.

Let me start by saying - "there is nothing to conclude". In fact, those who believe after all these discussions that some changes can be made should take it upon themselves and push to implement what they think will work. If you are still confused on what needs to be done, get it clarified with someone you trust and try to support him/her in working towards that change.

Honest to everyone, there are some of my friends who read this blog (most of them are silent observers) and have conveyed their support and we have started thinking on ways to do things now. By contributing to this discussion, you have already started doing your part, by making people think that several solutions are available. Keep continuing to do that by bringing in your own group of friends and making them think and work together.

If you think doing something for your school is good, start gathering your school mates, create an informal association (cos more formal it becomes more problems arise) and start working on things that you think will improve the situations that you felt weren't good when you studied. If you don't think that works, then fine, do something that you think will work rather than giving up after about 150 comments on this blog - that was not the intent. If you think Onyx is the solution to cleanliness in your neighborhood, take it upon yourself and make it happen - now. Gather the strength of those in your community and work towards it as doing things alone is not easy. There are several who want to do something but have very little guidance. Those who respond and read this blog are several steps ahead of those who are clueless. Help them achieve their goals by guiding them.

If you believe that this post is more than just another post, take it yourself or help me take it to the next level. If you don't want to publicly support, then those who know me, email me in person of your intent and thoughts and those who don't know me email me through my profile.

We conclude only when we achieve our results. We have just begun. Like the name of this blog, there are several milestones to cross and we have crossed the first few. No one knows where the road takes us further, but everyone knows where we want to go. There will be road closures and detours, there will be wrong turns and U-turns, there will be blow-outs and empty gas tanks, but just like we do whatever it takes to get to our favorite weekend destination, we should work harder when in crisis to get to our destination. For that to happen, those who work together must have the same destination though they may have several routes. But, if many head the same route, then it is easier to handle problems on the way as compared to taking different routes. Let us drive forward rather than spinning the wheels in the same place.

Fruits of Life

After my earlier post, I started fresh. I believed it can done. And now, I am reaping its fruits, literally. All it needed was some soil, a sapling, lots of water and plenty of caring.

That is a good enough motivation for me to think bigger and I am going for it. To go bigger, I need the tools synonymous to the soil, the sapling and water. I consider optimism as the soil, kids as the saplings and time as water. To gain the fruits of life, we need to start with kids in schools and groom then so we can pick the fruits of life when we grow old.

It is easier to teach a kid than a grown person. A grown person has a brain filled with tremendous information and it is hard to convince the person to change the way of life or the way of thinking. Selfishness and ego tend to take the driver's seat over humaneness and morality. A country can never become developed until a human life gets the respect it deserves irrespective of the status - rich or homeless. Such a state can not and will not occur in a country like India overnight. Patience and perseverence are the keys to success.

Personal and public hygiene, safety and compassion should be an integral part of a kids education as they are the keys to a healthy and humane life that defines a country's stage of development. Personal hygiene, as most of us know, is learnt through family values and the way the kith and kin carry themselves around in the family and the kids do in the school. These are instinctively learnt. Public hygiene is often not given as much importance as personal hygiene in our society. This needs to be taught in schools so the future citizens of the country can carry the education to make the country more healthy to live in.

Safety needs to be taught in schools. In my school days and I am sure it still continues in some schools, there was/is no concept of safety or precautions except in record notebooks. I have not seen a physics lab darker or a chemistry lab without the basic safety equipment like fire extinguisher and first aid kit. We were not taught the importance of safety in school in our days and that reflects in the current generations total lack of safety on roads and in society. Had we been given the right tools to tackle these situations when we were in school, we wouldn't be having posts and debates on if safety and hygiene need enforcement or not. Moral values need to be taught at an young age and social implications needs to be highlighted to kids. These can only be done at schools. Schools form the soil, kids are the saplings and education is water. The more nutrients we replenish the soil with while watering the sapling, the juicier is the fruit.

Twenty years ago, had someone not thought of the idea that India could be a strong player in the world today in IT services, it would not have happened today. Hundred years ago, had someone not thought that India could be independent, it would probably not have been independent.

It is time for us to think and act now. There are several problems we face and we also candidly exchange opinions on what can solve those. But no one enters the field to implement the same. Let each of us pledge here to solve one problem in our lifetime that we think needs a solution. Let us take the effort beyond opinions and solve it for a change.

Today, I pledge that I will do all in my power to make my country healthier to live in for all. I intend to do this by requesting the support of some of my friends in India to take up the duty of cleaning a designated area themselves and with the help of the local school kids. In the US, highways are often marked by mile markers saying that a fraternity is responsible for keeping the highway clean for so many miles. These are not mandatory organizations or enforced by the government. These are voluntary frat members who work hard to keep the zone in their jurisdiction clean. Such zones need to be created in the places we grow up in or become part of. I also intend, with permission from the nearest school, to teach a class every week on safety, hygiene and the importance of individual responsibility in society.

The doubters and critics may just dismiss my intentions saying I live in a foreign country and this is just "ettu suraikkai". As long as I am true to myself and my intent, I will continue to make all the efforts and I would appreciate your support, suggestions and actions to make us gain the real fruits of life.

DemocraZy

I think passerby is just trying to involve youngsters like us to think beyond just writing about issues. Personally that is what I believe in as well. We write about our gripes with government and society and get applauses and kudos from fellow bloggers and we respond to it in a funny way to keep the traffic going. I appreciate his/her efforts to invoke a sort of responsibility in each and every one of us, much like a grassroots effort. We often point out the shortfalls and never seem to go forward to find a solution.

Democracy is often quoted as "Of the people, By the people & For the people". We, the people, often think that as a responsible citizen we vote for a responsible candidate (of the people) and our job is done. We then expect the government to fix all our gripes (for the people). It is a mis-interpretation of democracy. We often forget the "by the people" part. We carry as much responsibility as the government we put in power.

We say the government doesn't provide us good roads and as we say that we throw our garbage on the street. We complain that the government is increasing the mass transit frequency while we wait for a bus or a train while at the same time we disregard the law and travel ticketless to prove a point (I dont know to whom). We complain that there is no water and no sanitation in the cities and at the same time we allow multiplexes to come up in our neighbourhood. Now you may argue that the govt officials sanctions to build those by taking bribes. But in fact it is us who buy those flats and create a demand that forces the builders to supply and creates corruption in the system. Why can't we move outside a city and build a home?

We keep living in $h!t and keep complaining but we never even try to use phenyl and clean it up ourselves. We depend on the government to do the same. We are capable of doing smaller things in our control and we should let the government handle the things beyond our abilities (like defense, international relations, trade and health to name a few). How many of us stop at the red signal and wait till it turns green without pushing the signal. How many of us yield to emergency vehicles? How many of us are ready to appear in a court or pay a fine when violating traffic instead of bribing the officer? How many of us are ready to assist accident victims to hospitals? How many of us are willing to take a detour near a school campus? How many of us obey "no horns" signs near hospitals and schools? These things don't need the government to intervene. These things need self-discipline. If only we can be a little more responsible for our own actions, we won't have to spend more time complaining and living in $h!t. Let us make an effort.

Blogger Etiquettes

Lately the trend in the "blogger world" has been changing - at least that is what I perceive in the small microsphere I live in.

People write and write and write for weeks and months and no one really reads them. Then one fine period, the traffic to your site grows tremendously through friends and recommendations and of course some of those posts are just irresistable :P. Then comments flow like ink from a new ballpoint pen. Responses from the Post-er(!) come faster than one can imagine.

But the green days are short-lived. Though comments continue to pour in from the ever supportive commenters, the Post-er stops responding to the comments. Is it a sense of self-accomplishment that goes over the head of the Post-er that makes commenters wait for responses or is it just that they are too busy with their "real life" (which I honestly hope it is)?

As a blogger I decided to create a list of Blogger Etiquettes. If you fit a profile that follows, you are expected to do the corresponding action item:
Do you:
1. write blogs? - Read other blogs.
2. read blogs? - Comment on blogs.
3. write blogs for others to read and comment? - Read and respond to comments.
4. read and comment on blogs for blogger responses? - Wait at least twenty four hours to see response (owing to time difference around the world). Please don't F5 the server to death.
5. read blogs but have no interest in commenting? - Please don't waste your time - do something useful like uh..., like uh.... like not reading blogs.

If you read this and don't perform the action item and don't refer this blog to 100 of your friends within the next 20 micro-seconds, nothing will happen to you.

OH NO!

I am on the news.

கேள்விகளுக்கு பதில் தேடுவோம்.

இந்த இணையத்தில் இந்த பதிப்பை படித்தேன். இதை பார்த்ததில் எனக்கு முததில் தோண்றிய எண்ணங்களை இங்கு பதிவு செய்துள்ளேன். இதைப்படிப்போர்கள் படிப்பது மட்டுமின்றி இதை செயலில் ஆழ்த்த கரங்களை ஓங்கவீர்களென நம்புகிறேன்.

"மிக விளாவரியாக நிரய விஷயங்கள் தெரிவித்திருக்கிறீர்கள். ஆனால் பதிப்பை கேள்விகளுடன் முடித்திருக்காமல் சில விடைகள் பதித்திருந்தால் இன்னமும் வலுவான பதிப்பாக இருந்திருக்கும். எல்லா விஷயங்களுக்கும் அரசை நம்பி இருக்காமல், கல்வியை நமது கையில் எடுத்துக்கொண்டு பரிமாரும் எண்ணம் நம்மைப்போன்ற இளைஞர்களுக்கு வரவேண்டும். உலகிலேயே இளமையான நாடாக இருப்பதனால் பெருமை மட்டும் கொள்ளாமல், அதை சரியாக உபயோகத்தில் ஆழ்த்தினால் நிச்சயமாக 2020 ஆண்டில் மற்ற வளர்ந்து வரும் நாடுகளுக்கு ஒரு நல்ல எடுத்துக்காட்டாக நம் இந்தியா அமையும். ஒரு மனது கொண்ட இளைஞர்கள் ஒன்றாகச்சேர்ந்து ஒரு குரிக்கோளை அடைய முற்பட்டால், முடியாததென்பது கிடையாது, கேள்விகளுக்கும் இடம் கிடையாது."

Elephant Tru(n/c)k

What does the "X" above the elephant picture stand for? Hmm....

It would definitely be a great pitch for ads in the US for the pick-up trucks...

"Sí, se puede"

I recently read this article and was really amazed by the spirit shown by the people of Cuba. The article is aptly titled - "The Power of Community". The will to succeed and the optimistic struggle of this community has definitely paid off in the last 40 years. By profession, I promote energy efficiency and self-sustainability. But, the thing the article inspired me was the importance the Cuban community and government gives to the educational and medical welfare of its people. Mankind survived all the adversities of the years of civilization because people cared for eachother. This basic concept was lost somewhere in the midst of all the industrial and technological revolutions in the past century. We have become greedy, we have set our sights beyond what is really needed to sustain a happy and self-sufficient life. There is no argument that human nature is to keep exploring and wanting more but the roots of civilization must not be forgotten at the same time. We have to re-establish our wants and try to focus on the needs.

"Yes, it can be done".

Tragedies & Heroes

It is amazing how American media always come up with heroes out of tragedies. United 93 passengers were heroes after 9/11, as they possibly crashed the plane away from populated area. A 70-odd year old Israeli Professor is a hero in the Virginia Tech shootout as he supposedly took several bullets for his kids as they jumped out windows. All these seemingly heart-warming heroic acts might be intended to boost the morale of the public from the shock, but to me all these acts are just a hype to embellish the news and promote their own cause. Human nature is to survive and to protect. If normal humans performing these instinctive activities are heroes, then who is not a hero? It is important to give respect to the departed, but don't make a story out of it to sell your product.

Frankly speaking...

There is one thing that really makes life easier. But strangely many of us are reluctant to do that one thing for an unknown mysterious reason. Choices and decisions need to be made at some point or the other. Why wait to make a decision when the outcome is likely to be the same now or later? Life is too important to sit on choices for long. A strong planner and a quick decision maker is many steps ahead of one who isn't. Make life simpler and easier. Be frank and make quick and sane decisions.

பி.கு.: தத்துவம் நம்பர் மூணு லட்சத்தி பதினெட்டு.

சொத்தைப்பல்

இப்போதுதான் புரிகிறது, "சொத்தைப்பல்" என ஏன் சொல்கின்றனர் என்று. சரி செய்ய "சொத்தை" எழுதி வைக்கவேண்டியிருக்கிறது.

A bat, a ball and a whole lot of memories

Yes, it is true that India lost in the first round but that doesn't mean cricket has been swept under the mat for a while. Sunday was a rare weekend day in my life. I woke up early, cleaned up quick and drove towards a makeshift ball park cum cricket ground. I parked and walked towards the field covered by low fog hanging just 6 feet above the ground. It was slightly cold but the sight of cricket balls, stumps and bat just warmed me up from the inside.

Wishing my "good mornings" and smiling out my "how ya doins", I jogged towards the nearest ball I could get my hand on. I had a stiff back from a spasm I had a couple of days earlier and was a bit wary of testing it. But the spirit of playing cricket after a long break just gave me the energy to indulge. A couple of looping leg spinners dropped not far from the good length. I still had it in me. I recalled those wonderful days of competitive cricket I used to play for my school and then the college. I recalled the effort and sincerity I put to get into the school and college teams.

Getting into my school team was a no brainer. I used to play cricket all the time with my school buddies and was not too bad at it either. When it was time for school try-outs, most of us made it pretty easily as we knew eachother. It was also a fun time as our P.T. sir did little coaching and acted more as a moral supporter to the players. He had the confidence in us (or should I say that was the level of interest the school showed towards sports) to let us choose our own captain and the team. We did fair well even with little professional equipment, ground, coaching and "transport" (yea, we used to cram up the gear in our own kits and board the crowded Pallavan buses). We made it as far as the Quarter Finals of the TNCA Under-16 tournament and I am still proud of it as we got to play at the Chepauk MAC-B stadium (the little practice stadium outside the main MAC stadium). Those were good days.

Getting into my college team was a tough road. In my first year, I had to do so many things to get a chance that made me question my own integrity. Then, I gave myself the benefit of the doubt as I was young and immature. I had to give my TVS Champ to my seniors (in the cricket team) during lunch hours (God knows where they went). I had to stay back after hours just to bowl at net sessions so my seniors could play well in tournaments. I was not much of a bowler at school. But I had to do something different and something more than the guy next to me to get a chance. Finally one of my seniors (who used to take my moped during lunch) recommended me into the team. That was the chance I was waiting for and grasped it with both hands. I sat on the bench, but went with the team to all the tournaments to start with. Then, I was included in the playing eleven, playing low down in the order and bowling an over or two in between. I finally graduated to a regular middle order batsman with three or four overs a game. There were some memorable moments when I picked up three wickets in an over (unfortunately missing a hat-trick) and when my name was published in The Hindu for being the highest scorer for my college. Joyous days.

As I was recalling those wonderful days of the yesteryears (seems they were long long ago, so long ago, nobody can say how long ago...), the fog lifted up and the teams were formed. As the average age of the group of 16 was around 35 and to ensure equal opportunity to all(!!), a mandatory two overs per batsman or the fall of his wicket, whichever is earlier was stipulated (I guess it was suggested by a banker in the group!). The game was fun, refreshing and a good exercise for us. We ended up playing two games that were closely contested and both were decided by last wicket stands. The games were followed by idli, vadai, sambar and chutney, then by more Indian team bashing and Woolmer's murder speculating. It was an exhausting Sunday but turned out to be a memorable one.

AILCWA

All India Liquor Consumers' Welfare Association, what a concept!

Short Term Memory...

I have lost respect for "The Hindu" writers. One writes "Sehwag back in form".
If I were Sidhu, I would say: "A hundred against Bermuda is as easy as peeling a banana."

Narrow Minded...

How stupid is this? They don't even know that they are burning their own tax money.

The Hindu -
"FAN FURY: Cricket fans, angered by India's shock five-wicket defeat against Bangladesh in a World Cup Group B match on Saturday, ransack Mahendra Singh Dhoni's property at Ranchi on Sunday. The under-construction house had been gifted to the wicket-k eeper batsman by the Jharkhand Government."

Learning Life - II.

The last weekend was different than any weekend in the last decade. I met a friend from high school after ten years. I was thrilled to meet her. The plan was to meet at Hotel Saravana Bhavan in the bay area. As I reached HSB, we called back and forth to identify ourselves in the huge crowd waiting for seating. Finally, we met and there were smiles and “hi”s all along. It was amazing that we were meeting thousands of miles away after ten years.

After a brief period of nervous smiles and introductions (to her husband and my friends who came along), we dove straight into the memorable years of school. We talked about life at school, our classmates, teachers, tuition, exams and a lot more. I have had such conversations with my long time friends who I am still in excellent touch with since school but this conversation felt different and much more fun.

This was not just about beaming back in time and recalling the wonderful times but I was also looking back at myself then. I realized that I am not the same person I used to be. Time and society does have remarkable transformation in life. Back then, I was a little boy trying to fit into the top few academically or otherwise, never really there on top nor too far behind either. Introvert to the core and not easy to befriend. I was reserved in several ways and had very little curio to look over the walls. I stuck to my group of friends and was contented with what I had. At least that is what I see when I look back through the time warp at myself about ten years ago.

Now, it is different and I am different. I am as inquisitive and curious as the crow that looked down the barrel of the gun. I have become much more animated and unreserved. I feel more comfortable with new people around and I feel I earn their trust quicker and concreter (is that a word? :P).

While learning about myself was intriguing, knowing how our old school friends are doing and what they are up to was as much fun as having cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory or pancakes at the International house of pancakes. Most girls and not many guys were married, some are working, some are dedicated to their little ones, some are more pious and some are more whacky. The one who loved chocolate ice creams anytime of the day is devoted 24 x 7 to her little kid. The one who distributed the savories to the class from the teacher’s drawer while she was asleep is now writing codes in Europe.

People have changed with time and changes are dramatic. Life is so complex and time makes it even complicated. But looking back at life is not only memorable, but also makes one recognize the decisions made and the impacts they had on self and others around. It makes one wonder what is in store for the future. Life is worth living. Learn to live as you live life.

News Devils

This is why I hate the press these days. How can the press say that one person's opinion as the Supreme Court's observation though the justice clearly states that the "law" doesn't allow that?

Licensed to Kill!

Learning Life.

Twelve years ago, I took part in a school skit competition. My friends had nice roles in the skit and I played a minor role. I didn't know the importance of the role then and felt bad (to myself, of course) about it. But now, I am glad I played that role. It helps me identify myself to high school friends after so many years. To think about it, my role was the most important in the skit. I was the "Wall" (a part of it) in a skit called "The Wall Drama" - a skit about friends who grow apart by building a wall in between them and then come back together after breaking the same. I am now openly happy.

I wonder why?

Ten guys are in a group for years. Things are normal and the guys have intelligent conversations. Then a few girls join the group. Now every guy tries harder than the other to prove that he is the biggest knucklehead. Hmmmm.... I wonder why?

Green Parrot, Pearl String

No idea why it is called so. Maybe Gautam consulted S. Ve. Shekar.

Movie Review: Gautam buys all his furniture from Ikea.

நட்பு

முதலில் சந்தித்த போது மூன்றாம் வகுப்பு.
தீபாவளி நேரத்தில் பட்டாசு சத்தத்துடன் சிரிப்பு.
மொட்டைமாடியில் கிரிக்கெட் ஆடுவதில் பருப்பு(!).
தொலைக்காட்சி போட்டியில் விளக்கின் கொதிப்பு.
கணக்கு ட்யூஷனில் சேர்ந்து படித்ததில் பொருப்பு.
தேனீருடம் அரட்டையடித்ததில் களைப்பு.
சேட்டுக்கடையில் சமொசா சாப்பிடத்துடிப்பு.
சீட்டுக்கட்டில் பிடித்த ரகமோ கிளப்பு(!).
நேற்றல்ல இன்றல்ல இந்த நட்பு.
வருடங்களாக இருந்து வரும் ஒரு தொடர்பு.

இன்றோ என் நண்பன் ஒரு "மாப்பு".
என் நண்பனே, உனக்கு வெச்சுட்டாங்கடா ஆப்பு.
எனக்கோ உன் வருங்கால துணைவியிடமிருந்து செருப்பு.

வந்துட்டாங்கய்யா வந்துட்டாங்கய்யா...

The Ant & The Grasshopper

I usually hate forwards, but this one was special:

Nice story...read it....u are sure to find it really interesting and funny......but it teaches us something!

OLD VERSION.......
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

MODERN VERSION ........
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance). Opposition MP's stage a walkout.Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'. Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.

Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services.

The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden' Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
Many years later...

The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ...

As a result loosing lot of hard working ants and feeding the grasshoppers India is still a developing country......

Can any one dare to bring India out of this clutches...

போக்கிரி

சனி இரவு போக்கிரி, ஞாயிரு காலை தலைவலி.

சன் டீவி டாப் டென் ஸ்டயிலில்
போக்கிரி: இன்னிக்கு செத்தா, நாளைக்கு பால்..

Patel Snaps

My parents have been pestering me for photos for a while now. I have somehow managed to steer clear of that question for a long time. I guess one can do that only for so long. They constantly intimidated that they will use the picture they had, which I had know idea where they got from. When inquired, I learnt that it was the passport photo that I had taken for my visa interview a couple of years ago. "Grrrr...". I finally had to succumb to the pressure when my siblings joined the bandwagon.

I sat down to surf through my four year digital archive trying to recall all the places I had gone to and all the solo pictures I had my friends and family take of me. As I looked through the pictures, the fond memories of the trips I had with my family and friends kept me from focusing on my job at hand. All those fun multiple trips to Grand Canyon, Sea World and the Bay Area, those quick weekend visits to the theme park, National Parks and ski resorts and the best of them all, the trips to home. I realized my passion to travel and kept drifting away from the assignment. After all the memories breezed past, I realized that I had involuntarily (or so I like to believe) picked up a dozen or so “Patel snaps”. I wondered why the name?

Impulsively, I googled the phrase and found that the entry was “proposed for a speedy deletion” from Wikipedia due to copyright infringements!!! "hmmmm…". Before I started to digress further, with quick “desi” instincts, started searching for sites that provided “free prints”. Like any resourceful “desi”, I recalled one of the sites that printed and shipped the first twenty prints for free and so signed up for a new account (though I already had an account with them and misused up the offer earlier). Then again, as any computer savvy “desi”, I decided to “fix” some pictures using Picasa2 before I uploaded and printed them.

Some pictures needed more lighting, some needed more contrast and some even needed “paintbrush” skills. It was at that moment that a thought struck to me. “Poor girl, whoever she is, has to deal with me”. Amazing how people tend to believe in what they see on paper. I was a bit worried that it could happen to me as well with people like me let loose. After a quick dose of reality, I got back to paintbrush and erased the blemishes. After I was thoroughly satisfied with the final version of the “Patel snaps”, I uploaded the pictures and ordered the prints. Now, it was time to wait.

After four days, I received my 4”x6” matte finish prints. I started going through it and realized that I was wearing sunglasses in more than half of them (at least four or five different types in three years – man it feels like I buy more sunglasses than anyone in this world) . What if they think I was blind or even worse if they thought I had eyes like a “bush baby”? Then I thought to myself – “who cares… it's just like my blog postings, who cares...”

Who's your daddy?

Now, who is the culprit?

Video

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