Koothu in Boston - Black Friday

We were probably inspired by this stud remix. It could also be because the only audio CD that we had was one that contained some of the studdest gems of Tam film music, like the eternal hit O Podu, the recent hit Sirichi Sirichi, the karuthu-filled gems Podango and Kai Kai Kai Vekkara and the kid among all these stalwarts, Randakka Randakka. We also had a convertible at hand and the day had dawned absolutely brilliantly bathed in superb sunshine. The most important reason was that we could afford to do this only in USA, no way we would have tried the same stunt in Tamil Nadu.

After a good pongal breakfast made by Mani, we set off to first do some shopping to take advantage of the low prices that characterise Black Friday and then go some 30 odd miles out of the city to a temple and have South Indian food somewhere nearby. This was accomplished in awesome style.

Topless, the car that is, blaring out the above mentioned hits, we hit the road in Boston. Just imagine the situation. Four country Tam Brahms (for a change an Iyengar majority, which is actually enough info to get the number of Iyengars and Iyers in the group) masquerading as pseud guys, in a convertible with its roof down listening to cracking Tam songs on an American highway. Incase you are having problems imagining, my debut on youtube might help you. There is also this other video that I shot.

After some shopping, we left Boston around 1 for the Lakshmi temple at Framingham. But we were very hungry by then, so decided to do pooja to the tummy first. There is a proper Tam restaurant in Ashland. The waiters also talk in Tam, I was totally impressed. The food was a buffet, with a masala dosa added. Some 10 odd bucks per head. Full thulping ensued.

Special mention must be made of the really poo-pol Idlies, the cracking chilly potato and an even more cracking thayir saadham, arguably the best I have had since Pattapa's thayir saadham at a cousin's marriage 5 years back. Even though the other stuff wasn't too great, the fact that it was food closest to home ensured that we ate lots. The trip was literally highly fulfilling.

After lunch we went to the temple. But it was closed. We took this as an opportunity to take some photos, which I have not yet uploaded. The photo shoot done, we came back to MIT and then went to the airport to drop the car and then send off Bharat. It was time for me also to leave. We came to the bus station around 7:55, but the 8 o clock bus had left, so Mani and Srini waited along with me till 8:45 types and we parted.

During the entire course of the trip, this was the only time I felt loath to leave. We had had a great time and it had unfortunately come to an end. These friends were the ones with whom I had spent 4 years of my prime, so it was obviously great to meet and go around and have fun. And it also turns out that currently I don't have too many close friends in Bangalore and I had also rotted for three weeks in NY which made this trip all the more memorable. It started off pretty bleak, but ended up confirming a theorem stated in the Gita that states that whatever happens always happens for good.

As Srini had scrapped my sis, this trip would be one of the contenders for my "Those were the best days of my life".

Explanation: For those who are wondering what "Pattappa's thayir saadham" is, Pattappa happens to be the best Iyengar cook in Chennai and this thayir saadham if I am right is served during the lunch on the day of the muhurtham. However hot Chennai happens to be, this curd rice is always cool. Totally cool.

Koothu in Boston - Thanksgiving

I reached Boston on the morning of Thanksgiving by the cheapest way of travel between the two cities and also the place where you can appreciate the diversity of the American population, a Chinatown bus. The Boston bus was not as diverse as the one I took to Washington a couple of weekends before. That bus had Afro-Americans, Indians, Chinese, Eastern Europeans, French (atleast thats what I think they were) and even Egyptians. Bharat was to land in Boston that evening and we planned to rent a car from the airport.

First it was the heavy rain that threatened to ruin our plans, then it was the shortage of cars at rentals. The first three agencies we went to had no cars at all, then we decided to try out one of the top two. We went to the number 2, the guys who try harder, Avis. And we struck something close to gold. They had only one car available, thanks to the rain, a convertible, a Chrysler Sebring. (do a google image search for the car)

No one knew how to get back to MIT, so with some approximations followed by corrections, we finally reached the dormitory where Mani and Srini stay after picking up Bharat at the airport. Driving around in the US without proper directions is pretty tough as you just can't stop and ask some tea kadai level guys for two reasons, one stopping is not possible and secondly, there are no tea kadais. Probably we should transport a few Mallus there.

Then there was this lottery for food. As it was Thanksgiving, almost every restaurant in town was closed. And being stud planners, we started calling restaurants only after we found our first few choices closed. After roaming around a bit, we finally found a Chinese restaurant, that turned out to be very very fair. There were these sevai level rice sticks that were just awesome. One full thulp ensued, exceeding our own expectations of taking back some food home. This was followed by ice cream from Baskin Robbins, which unlike in India is pretty affordable there.

It still kept raining, actually felt like it had gotten heavier. We came back to the dorm, talked to a couple of erstwhile hostelmates (includes a stunning 30+ minutes with Sumo, people who know Sumo will appreciate the achievement), watched some Lollu Sabha on Youtube and crashed with the hope of getting up early to do some electronics shopping on Black Friday and then do some roaming provided the weather was better.

Blogging just to pass time

I have three hours to my next flight, to Bangalore from Dubai. Absolutely no clue as to what to do. The net is also pretty slow. And the only thing interesting happening currently at this time in the world seems to be the Ashes, where England have had their best session of the test so far. But early tomorrow morning, the match will be over.

I just landed in Dubai after a 13 hour flight from NY. I caught the flight in the morning NY time. Despite a not so great sleep the previous night, I could not sleep too well on the flight. Ended up watching a few movies, Thank You for Smoking, MI3, Cars and even John Tucker Must Die in an attempt to sleep. Unless Emirates radically changes their movie menu and my next trip is atleast a few months from now, I will have problems spending time if I travel on Emirates again.

The NY trip was ok professionally, but on a personal level, I seriously keep thanking myself for not having gone to the US. Just too much loneliness and also a feeling of being an outsider. And the food too. I have come to the conclusion that its not worth living abroad even for the money.

Throughout the trip, except for the time I left Boston, I was totally eager to get back. Boston was a very good exception to the rule. Did have some major fun there, which deserves to be the subject of an entire post. And also have to upload the pics of that trip. Was totally cracking. Was the best fun I had in quite a while.

I have written so much and just 15 minutes have passed. Work expands to fill time, but somehow time never contracts. I can probably go have something to eat, do a little window shopping and can surely sleep to pass time. I don't want to do the last as it will not help my jetlag at all and window shopping won't take too much time. Anyways thats all for now. Can't even think of anything more to type.

Ashes to Ashes

I did cover the last Ashes pretty comprehensively (and totally partisan too), starting off with the ODI series and ending with Pietersen's superb century at the Oval. In a few hours, the next instalment starts, in Aussie land. Its been the most awaited series since and so a few words about it won't be out of order.

The last series was an epic, finally won by the more deserving team, England. This time it will be different. The Aussies will win, its afterall home territory and England aren't in great bowling form, despite the win over the Pakis. 2-0 atleast, could be a 3-1 or a 2-1 depending on the first test. If somehow England can contrive to draw the first test, we could have a contest on our hands.

Whether the series becomes a contest or not depends on the English bowlers. Without Simon Jones, the fifth bowler does become a weak link and a lot depends on Harmison too who hasn't been in any sort of form post the Old Trafford test against the Pakis. And I hope Monty Panesar plays as the Aussies do have a weakness against quality left-arm spin. Murali Kartik, Asif Karim, etc come to mind and the erstwhile King of Spain, Ashley Giles is just not good enough.

I think the English batsmen have enough form to score in the range of 300-400 consistently and if their bowlers can back these scores up, we just might have another cracker of a series. But currently I just don't see this happening. If the first test lasts till I get back, the fifth day without any weather related interruptions, England should be happy with their start. I would surely be.

Sad

That these Americans have given their towns English names,
But unfortunately (for me) have absolutely no clue of the English games.

During my trip to a cousin's place near Boston, I came across a Bolton, a Charlton, but these guys think football is for girls.

I also came across a Worcester, a Manchester, but I don't think these guys will think beyond insects.

There is some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I'll be back by Sunday. But the bad news is that I will have missed one India-SA ODI, a whole bunch of Champions League matches and the first four days of the Ashes (mostly would mean the entire match) by then.

Work

Funny that when you don't need the time, you have lots of it, but when you need it, you just can't seem to find it. My past finally seems to have caught up with me. After years of having all the time in the world, now I almost have no time.

In short, I have a lot of work, have been working a lot and will have more work.

Crazy weather

Apart from the obvious cold, this is another word that I could use to describe the weather here, in NY that is. Last weekend was too cold, the week was warmer and again the weekend is expected to be cold. By cold, I mean temperatures < 10 (new domains for me) and warm means 15-20 degrees, both in centigrade.

The spell of warm weather defied conventional thinking. It came on the back of one entire day of rain. In India rain acts a cooler, while here its a heater. Strange, but probably correlation should not be confused with causality.

This trip has also enabled me to brush up some 8th standard Physics. Thanks 5/9(F-32).

Kelvi kekkaradhu romba easy Mama

What a lie?

Try interviewing a Ph.D.

Its worse with your questions and feedback going to a lot of people.

Explanation for the title: Its a line from the movie Panchathanthiram said by Kamal to Nagesh meaning "Its easy to ask questions".

Midterm elections

I am in the US during some happening times. Midterm elections are happening ("they happen in years divisible by 2 and not divisible by 4" is what a cartoon on the Daily show informed) I don't know how many seats are being contested, for which house and the other mundane details. The US has a really complex legislature system. But from the various news channels surfed every morning, it seems like the Democrats should do well and will thus get control of the House of Representatives. And if they end up doing really well, they might end up getting control of the Senate too. (I don't know what exactly the role of these two houses are)

These elections are obviously given hajaar footage in the media. But compared to India, they do seem a joke. The campaign season is not as festive as in India. No roadside banners, blaring loudspeakers, night long speeches, none of the promises that will not be kept, infact if one did not watch TV or read the newspaper or surf news sites, the election would be hardly visible. And from what I have written, it seems pretty civilised too.

In truth it is not. Every commercial break in the last couple of days had atleast one campaign related ad. And 9 out of those 10 are attacks on the opponent. Straight and direct attacks, absolutely no subtlety at all. And none of these are too creative either. One conclusion (or wrong assumption if it backfires) that is derived from these ads is the fact that Bush has become a pariah when it comes to getting votes. Democrat ads always have the obvious fact that the opposing candidate supported Bush most of the time. In one case, the Republican guy (I think in Rhode Island) has even distanced himself from Bush.

The issues on which the two parties differ are also totally ridiculous. Given that the economy is doing well, the next best issue is obviously Iraq. After this the ridiculousness increases exponentially, racism, gay marriage, stem cell research, etc. Trifling they seem to me.

But there is a reason, as my cousin Sampath says and I tend to agree with him. The important and basic issues in India, the bijlis, sadaks and paanis are givens in the US. Whatever happens and whoever is in power, these facilities will always exist. The one sure hallmark of a developed nation.

Jetlagged

1 - Number of days I have been in NY
2 - Number of meetings attended today
3 - Number of movies I saw on the flight
4 & 5 - Trains that I have to take to office
6 - Number of "Scrubs" episodes seen in the last 48 hours
14.5 - Length of flight from Dubai to NY
45 - Street on which my hotel is located
809 - My hotel room number
Hajaar - The amount of sleep that is coming to me now (translate to any Indian language)