Singy

I am back...

2006-11-11T06:20:00.000-06:00

I am back after a gap of two months. It seems like two years to me. I got married, bought a new house and got a new boss at work. I have lots of stories to share, specially of the wedding.

First let me give you the backdrop of my wedding. Iris and I got married on a beautiful fall day in October. We got married in Minneapolis at a Golf Club. Iris' mom came from China and my parents came from India. My brother and his family came from Thailand. We had bridesmaids and groomsmen come from China and different parts of the US. Most of them stayed with us for 2 weeks during the wedding. With translations, we came to know each other very well. For the marriage, we had the Hindu ceremony followed by the Chinese Tea ceremony followed by an American reception party. Iris and I changed our costumes three times for this.

We trained the chef to make Indian Curries with American food. I think he did a very good job. We had a DJ at the wedding who is very well known in the Minneapolis-Milwaukee-Chicago belt. He was playing english, hindi and chinese songs all evening. During the reception party we taught Bhangra and Dandia to all our guests and had a blast. I am amazed that no one had their eyes poked. Everyone had a great time.

Lost in Translation

2006-09-17T21:07:00.000-05:00

I met my future mother-in-law yesterday for the first time. She came from China to attend the wedding and stay with us for several months. She does not speak any English and my Chinese vocabulary is limited to "Ni Hao" and "Xie Xie" (Hi and Thank you). Iris, my fiancee, does all the translation. And like all moms she is very interested in feeding us all the time. Within a few hours of landing in the US she learnt her first English words: "Eat more". She repeats this during every meal when I am done eating. I have gained 100 pounds in the last 2 days.

I am waiting for my parents to arrive in a couple of weeks. It will be very interesting when my mom, who knows very little English, talks to my mother-in-law. We will need two translators. I will need to translate Hindi to English and then Iris will need to translate that to Chinese. Even though mother-in-laws are not known to be best friends, Iris and I are pretty sure they will get along fine...or we have to make sure there are a few things lost in translation.

What a way to go !

2006-07-09T21:21:00.000-05:00

Zinedine Zidane was red carded during the final overtime for head-butting Italian player Marco Materrazi. This has created a permanent blot on the glorious career of the great French player. We may never know what enraged Zidane so much as to throw his reputation and possibly the World Cup away. I was fishing around for any information out there for the cause of Zidane's rage and one common rumor going around is Marco pinched Zidane's nipple and directed some racial slur towards him.

I found this from an article in Observer written in 2004: "Zidane's family are Algerian immigrants, so-called beurs (French slang for Arabs), and he describes himself as 'a non-practising Muslim.... The Berbers are not Arabs and in recent years the Berbers from the Kabylie region of Algeria, which is Zidane's family's home territory, have been in open conflict with the Algerian government. There are rumours of massacre and counter-massacre, but all that is really known in the West is that more than 100,000 people have lost their lives in the civil war that has devastated the country since 1992." The complete article can be read at http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1182707,00.html

It may turn out that this was all planned by Marco and some of his team mates to take Zidane out of the eventual PK shootout. In any case this shows Zidane was only human and may not be fit for the demigod status he enjoyed for so many years. What a way to end a glorious career !

Audio Books - Way to Go

2006-06-22T22:06:00.000-05:00

A few months back I started a work-related project in Sumner, Iowa, which is 200 miles away from Minneapolis. It is a 3 hour drive and I dreaded this drive having to do it all alone most of the times. It was very boring and I ended up driving faster than I should have. I had thought of buying audio books but it was cost prohibitive. For example, the list price of the book "The World is Flat" is $27.50 but the audio version costs $60. But, yesterday, I took the plunge and bought my first audio book: "The World is Flat" and I am so glad I did it. It is a set of 20 CDs that will last for 25 hours. I came back from the trip today and have covered 5 CDs already. I am all set for my next 4 business trips to Iowa. The pace of the audio book is similar to my own reading pace and I think the retention rate is also higher. One tends to remember more if you read aloud or hear a narration than plain reading.

I am currently looking to buy a house. I was debating if I should buy an expensive one that is only 5 minutes drive from my work place or a less expensive one that is 30 minutes away. The experience today with the audio book has made it little easier to make this decision. Now, I have to start getting these from the local library and not spend a fortune on them. If you are on the move, specially alone, Audio Books are definitely the way to go.

Why I Run

2006-05-29T22:23:00.000-05:00

Recently a friend asked me why do I run. I could come up with several reasons. Here are my top 5.

1. I am developing a paunch and I hate it.
2. How else can you have close encounters with wild life? (I usually run on a trail close to my house that goes around thick forests and a lake. Yesterday, I ran into a herd of deer)
3. To run several miles in the morning knowing most of the world is still in bed gives an awesome feeling.
4. Having coffee after a hard run makes it all worthwhile.
5. Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes and endless trails. Running is the best way to discover them.

Nepal: A Sorry State

2006-04-24T22:21:00.000-05:00

Nepal is currently witnessing mass protests against King Gyanendra. Millions of people are defying curfew orders and rallying their support for the reestablishment of democracy in this Himalayan Kingdom. The whole world is watching the developments very closely because Nepal is strategically located between two growing powers: India and China. I have read several articles on this revolt here in the US and I am surprised as to how quickly people forget the history. I think, history is not what happened in the past but what winners then wanted the future generations to remember. But is five years really history...is our memory comparable to that of a goldfish?

In my opinion, in June 2001 Gyanendra staged a perfect coup d'etat and overthrew his brother King Birendra to become the next king. He mercilessly killed the king and all his family members including the prince. There was no independent investigation of the incident conducted. The "official story" that came out later was that the prince shot his own family in a fit of rage. The reason: his parents did not approve his affair with an Indian princess.

I still remember that morning when I read this news. I was in total shock and disbelief. I could not believe this could happen in the 21st century only 400 miles away from where I grew up. I wished the Indian Government would do something about it. But soon the new King dismissed the parliament and declared an emergency rule. The democratically elected prime minister was put in jail and free press was banned. All this less than five years ago.

And today Mr. Leon Weil, US ambassador to Nepal (1984-1987), wrote an article in the WSJ saying "In 2001 King Birendra and virtually the entire royal family were murdered by the drug - and - alcohol - crazed crown prince, son of the monarch. Gyanendra, the sole surviving brother of the king, inherited his reign under the most difficult and trying circumstances". He continues to say that the steps being taken by the king are "...welcome first step towards diffusing the political crisis". I am once again in total shock and disbelief. I only hope King Gyanendra will be brought to justice. In the book "Night" Elie Wiesel, Nobel peace prize winner, gives words to my emotion very clearly when he says that he has a "moral obligation to try to prevent the enemy from enjoying one last victory by allowing his crimes to be erased from human memory".

MacGyver: My Childhood Hero

2006-04-16T08:22:00.000-05:00

Last week I got a chance to relive my favorite childhood memories: watching the TV series "MacGyver". It was a hugely popular TV series from 1985 to 1992. Back then in India there was only one TV channel "Doordarshan" with popular programs such as Ramayan, Mahabharat, Hum Log and Buniyaad. My favorites were Karamchand, Byomkesh Bakshi and Johnny Soko and his flying Robot - the Japanese action show.

With limited shows to choose from, kids in the North Eastern part of India would climb to their roof tops and add boosters to their TV antennae. This would help in receiving transmission from the neighboring Bangladesh of programs such as Knight Rider, A-Team and my favorite "MacGyver". Even though the reception was poor, I would wait all week long for Wednesday nights and be glued to my black-and-white TV to watch my hero "MacGyver" (Color TV was introduced in India in 1982, but we bought it much later).

MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) was an ex-special force agent who solved toughest cases without using guns. He was an expert in making weapons using everyday materials. He used paper clips to shortcircuit a nuclear missile, camera strap to hold high voltage power lines, magnetic strip in credit cards to randomly change traffic lights to create traffic jams, cigarette smoke to detect laser beams and Hershey bars to stop acid leaks. He would solve crimes in exotic locations all around the world. In the first three episodes of season one, he solved crimes in Mongolia, New Mexico, Budapest and Burma. After watching these episodes yesterday, I realized that this series had such breathtaking stunts that it would easily overshadow the modern shows like "24" on Fox. The camera shots were great and he had beautiful girls, as associates, in every episode just like 007 did.

I talked about MacGyver in one of my toastmaster speeches, and a lady came up to me and told me that it was her favorite serial too. I am sure there are other people who loved this show. If you are interested you can get DVDs of the show from the movie rental company Netflix or you can download it from Google Video for $1.99/episode.

Raising a glass to Toastmasters

2006-04-02T11:07:00.000-05:00

I have been an active member of Toastmasters International since May 2005. In this article I will talk about this club and how I have gained from it in such a short time.

"Toastmasters International is the undisputed world leader in public speaking training, with over 10,500 clubs and more than 211,000 members in approximately 90 countries". In US you can find several toastmasters in every town and city. Similarly, it is very popular in other countries all around the world. I am a member of a toastmasters club called "Super Speakers" that has been consistently ranked in the top 1% of all toastmasters clubs. We meet every week and accomplish so much in an hour because of rigorous planning before the meeting.

For every meeting there are several positions that are filled weeks in advance by the members of the club. These positions such as sergeant at arms, exhortationist, grammarian, timer, "Wizard of Ahs", general evaluator and the president have defined roles. For example "Wizard of Ahs" counts the ahs, ums and other "crutch" words for all speakers and presents a report at the end, which forces everyone to reduce their filler words to a minimum.

In every meeting there are three impromptu speeches and three prepared speeches delivered. The prepared speakers usually speak for 5-7 minutes each on the topic of their choice. Experienced members of the club evaluate these speeches and provide improvement tips. These evaluators volunteer much in advance and usually meet the speakers before the meeting to find out if the speakers want them to focus on anything specific.

The impromptu speech section is led by the topicsmaster. He/She randomly calls on 3-4 members and asks them to speak on the given topic for 1-2 minutes. At the end of the meeting everyone votes for the best speaker (both prepared and impromptu) and the best evaluator.

There is no limit to the number of speeches one can give. There are members in my club who have been speaking for over 20 years. One gets recognition after every 10 speeches (also called projects). The speech topics, though chosen by the speakers, have to be such that they show certain qualities as the speakers advance in their projects. For example, the third project focuses on the organization of the speech. By the fifth one the speaker should be using appropriate gestures and body movements to enhance the speech. By the eight speech the speaker should have a good vocal variety and should be comfortable using visual aids and props. Thus with every speech, one should build upon the things learnt before and by the tenth speech become a "Competent Toastmaster". One can then go for the advanced toastmaster track.

Speech contests is another useful feature of toastmasters. There are speech contests such as prepared speech, impromptu speech, story telling, humorous speech etc going on all the time. The winners at club level advance to area level to division level etc and can go all the way to the world championship of speaking. I have seen DVDs of several world championships and they always make me prepare more enthusiastically for my next speech. I have given speeches in front of 30-40 people at work and plan to speak in front of larger audiences in the future. I am also planning to speak in professional institutions such as ASQ (American Society for Quality) and IIE (The Institute of Industrial Engineers). I will keep you posted on how that goes.

I am giving my seventh speech in 2 weeks. I still have butterflies in my stomach everytime I go in front of a large audience but I think I have come a long way. I will strongly encourage everyone to join toastmasters. Effective public speaking has several advantages and there is no better place than toastmasters for learning the tricks and getting speaking practice. It is almost free to be a member since all the positions are volunteered by members of the club (You may have to pay nominal fee for the manuals etc). If you are interested in improving public speaking visit the website www.toastmasters.org for more information.

Showing Public Affection

2006-03-14T20:40:00.000-06:00

Movies are true reflection of the society and its norms. Showing public affection in India was rare. One could never see couples holding hands or kissing in the streets. Thus, Indian movies also almost never had smooching scenes. Whenever the actor and the actress begin to hug and kiss, the camera would instead show two birds kissing. Growing up watching these movies, I always believed that you need two birds in the room to kiss a girl.

There are different limits of decency in various cultures. On one extreme, it is taboo in some Middle Eastern countries for women to reveal any body parts and showing any kind of public affection is out of the question; while couples in the U.S. can get away with almost anything during Mardi Gras and Spring Break. India with its different cultures and classes has different limits, but if one is forced to label it, it will be more towards the conservative side.

Growing up in that atmosphere and graduating from "Trichy", I was ready for anything but what was about to hit me in America.

Within the first few months I met a Chinese girl, who became my gf. (In five years we are now engaged and getting married this Fall.) During that time it was natural for her to walk with me hand in hand all around the campus. I was more than OK with that but as soon as I saw my Indian friends or seniors I would cringe. She never understood my behavior and it has become a butt of many jokes. I am over that but even now I sometimes look for two birds.

Globalization

2006-03-11T18:59:00.000-06:00

Much has been written about Globalization and Frigyes Karinthy's "six degrees of separation". I will start my blog by contributing to this growing phenomenon.

My parents are originally from North Western India. I was born and schooled in Eastern India, and went to college in South India. After living all over the country, I am currently working in the US. My Fiancee is a Chinese interning in an American company. My elder brother married his girl friend from Western India and is working for a British firm in Thailand. My dad is working for a British-German collaboration in India making automobile parts for an American company. And my mom, born and brought up in North India, makes the best Dosas and Idlis in the world. I think my small family is a perfect example of Globalization.

With my own experience I have an idea that is gonna blow Frigyes outta the water. Get this: (dramatic pause) "five degrees of separation". Which one you gonna spring for?

(Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar wrote about this phenomenon of global family in an article on his website http://www.swaminomics.org/ in April 2005. Thanks Hari for pointing this out to me.)