The Jersey Shoreline was spectacular to look at from the top. The combination of the adrenaline rush and then just gliding serenely gives a wholesome experience.

Here is the video:

Skydiving over the Jersey Shore from Chirag Jog on Vimeo.

The book talks about Lincoln successfully built his team achieving balance between radicals & moderates and governed America during the toughest period in its history where due to the burning issue of slavery the country was split into two leading to civil war.

The author proceeds from describing Lincoln’s background from his bleak childhood, his laborious task of self education, a string of political failures & depression and compares them to his final presidential rivals (who become his cabinet ministers finally) who had relatively tasted success and had good upbringing.

It was widely believed that Lincoln got elected as a President purely by luck, but the book explains all his inner workings and shrewd political skills that actually led him to become the President.

Lincoln built a team of ministers who were his rivals in the Presidential elections . All of these rivals had a lot of influence in the political space, came from affluent and influential families leading people to believe that Lincoln would be just a puppet President taking orders from his cabinet.
Lincoln’s cabinet consisted of radicals and moderates who were constantly in fighting amongst themselves and lacked any respect for Lincoln. Not were these conflicts resolved but they all learnt to respect Lincoln as their leader.

The demeanor Lincoln maintained during the events leading to the formation of the confederacy, eventual civil war and finally reformation of the union was the one of the reasons for his success. Fighting these stressful situations and even his own depression, Lincoln never let emotions govern him and affect his decision making capabilities .

Lincoln not only rose as a leader above his cabinet but rose above all of the American presidents to be ranked along Washington.

I would like to highly recommend this books as it not gives insight into Lincoln but the vastly rural
American landscape of the 19th century.

She was away for a few months. She is expected back today, but her US-based cousin whom she was planning to meet later in the week, has to go back sooner than planned and wants her to come over today itself.
He thinks of the phone conversation he had with her. Although he was okay with her being away a bit longer, she was not.  She had already been away for a while and wanted to be with him tonight.There is a hint of excitement in him. They are planning to have a baby.  He has cleaned up the house especially the bedroom. He even bought some scented candles and potpourri.  He is excited about tonight.

His thoughts are broken when an alarm goes off indicating he has a meeting in the next 15 minutes. He decides to grab a cup of coffee before it . He gets up of his sear; turns around to see his colleague standing besides him. “Coffee ? “
”Umm..hmm.. yes sure!”
”Then, lets go… the meeting starts in less than 15 minutes” 
This colleague; he does not want to meet at the start of the day or for that matter any time of the day for he can go on and on about everything under sun from politics to economics. Basically showing off how much he knows or probably how time he wastes reading the newspaper.
“Did you see the debate about the Government decision to … “.
Completely ignoring the question, he just mumbled a “Oh .. No, i missed it”.
”It was an great insight into…..”
He does not pay attention at all and get back to thinking about tonight; His wife.; He missed her. He is excited about tonight.

At the coffee machine, while his colleague is now rambling about the next recession that is going to hit us in a bad way, he sips his freshly brewed coffee and looks around the pantry room .
He sees people sitting in groups, sipping coffee and laughing, a group of middle-aged women gossiping in hushed tones and then giggling like school girls, an office boy cleaning up dirty tables; he observers them but nothing registers in his mind. He is just thinking about tonight. He can hear words like “quasi recession etc.” being uttered in the background.

His thoughts are interrupted. He smells a fragrance in the air, as if someone or something pushed a whiff of air towards him. He turns around. He sees this young lady standing behind him. He gives her a knowing smile and moves away from the coffee machine. She joined his team a few months. He notices she looks smart and is well dressed. She seems to be particular about what she wears. She has confidence glowing from her. He knows she is going to go places. He is lost in his own thoughts again but he cannot focus anymore. The smell of that perfume is breaking his thoughts. She looks at him, as she knew her fragrance is breaking his thoughts. His colleague, now starts talking to her.  He realizes his still has that meeting to attend and rushes out of the canteen towards the meeting room completely forgetting his chatty colleague . On the way to the meeting room he thinks about tonight again. She is coming tonight. She cannot live without him and readily ditched her favorite cousin. She will be waiting for him at home. He is excited.

730pm:

He is driving his car out of the parking lot. He cuts across multiple lanes while getting on to the main road. He is not in a mood to wait. He is reminded of his wife. She would say that in the US you would follow all the traffic rules but here you drive like a taxi driver. He smirks. There are no rules to follow here honey; he never tells her that. He never tells her a lot of things that are in his mind. What he thinks; What he feels.  He knows, he will regret doing this not-telling-her soon.
On the main road he keeps honking, pressuring the slower moving vehicles to give way. He jumps a signal, disrupts the traffic flow. Bystanders give him the glare. He ignores them. His mobile phone rings, he does not bother to even check who called. He just wants rush back home.  He swerves his car into his designated parking slot with perfection.
He rushes to the elevator as he sees its door close. But its too late; the elevator door closes and he cannot stop it. He does not have the patience to wait for it to come down. He runs up the staircase and reaches before the lift could. His wife would probably be at home.

He enters his house with his house keys. His home is empty. His wife is nowhere to be seen. He suspiciously looks around; there is no one. He double checks the bedroom. It is in the same way as he left it in the morning. He smiles and takes a quick shower, then makes himself comfortable on his couch.

He is hears a car turn into his housing society. He can make out whose car it is. He can already smell the fragrance in the air. The same one that was distracting him earlier at work. He can smell it a mile away or so he would want to believe.

His wife was missing him but she also had her cousin to visit.  He plays the role of the caring-loving-yet-sensible husband well “ I am also miss you honeybuns, but your cousin. You haven’t met her since her wedding last year and won’t meet her again for a while. ”  He reminds himself to play his role well but not overdo it. “Just Another day before we are together!”  He is excited about tonight. He is excited about that perfume and her. She had knowingly applied his favorite perfume at work; to keep him distracted, to keep him excited throughout the day.

His pulse is racing as the door bell rings. He looks towards the door. He gets up and starts moving towards the door; straight ahead of him. He has a grin on his face of that a school boy going to do something mischievous. He casually looks towards the left while walking. He see a photo frame. It has a picture in it. Its his honeymoon picture from three years ago. Both of them, he and his wife are laughing heartily in it. His mind wanders to his wife, the fun they have together, the lame jokes they used to share and laugh about. The bell rings again.  He is looking at the photo frame now. His heart is beating harder than earlier, but he is not excited anymore, he is  tensed. His mind is not at ease.
For the first time now, he has a sense of guilt. All the while during his affair he would be scared now and then about his wife finding out but never a sense of guilt. But then again, they had never together for a night yet. This is all wrong, he feels suddenly “How did I get myself into this mess?!”. But a part of him also wants tonight to happen. 
Again, he thinks “I will just call it off. Tell her I am not well or lets just cuddle for tonight!”.
“She will get mad at me and maybe I will be the butt of the jokes she cracks with her friends!”
He remembers seeing her in a two piece bikini. It turns him on. A part of him wants tonight to happen.

The thoughts of the perfume is now clashing against memories with which his life is built on. They are like these strong waves during a stormy night crashing against a foundation of rocks where you never know if the waves will break the foundation and takes the stones with it or the stones will weather this storm like it has so many other. He has stopped moving. The bell rings once again. He start moving involuntarily.  Every step his takes is getting heavy. His mind is now full of guilt. His thoughts keep going back to his wife but are being being broken by the thoughts of the perfume. He is no longer sure of what he wants. 
Suddenly his mobile phone beeps. There is a beep indicating a voicemail alert. He had not picked up the phone while driving. He ignores it. The door bell rings again but this time repeatedly and even more urgently. He reaches to the door and takes a deep breath. He feels his anxiety pangs and he does not like it.He removes the latch and opens the door.

“Dude, WTF is wrong with you ? Why did not you open the door for so long? What were you upto? Taking the crap or what?!! “
”Uhm.mm…”
”You are pale. You seen a ghost or what?! Come on dude.  Bhabhi called and told me you are a bachelor for another night. Grab you jacket and lets grab some drinks”

He looks at him watch. It way the past the time. She should have been her by now or at least called. His mind now races recalling the events till now. His mobile phone. The voice mail. He puts the phone to his ear and plays the message.

“Hi babes, I won’t be able to make tonight ya. Lots of work and then I have to meet this old school friend who is in town. Lets do it some other time.  Miss me wink wink!!”  <Beep>
”You have no unread voice messages”<Beep>.

The mind is relieved.

Now, how does the Indian Robot size up to its  Hollywood counterparts?

Well, for one this Robot proves its Indianness; no not by being a obedient, loyal and “i will sacrifice my life for my master” but by demanding a salary, going on strike and eventually decides not to do his designated job because he is on holiday.

And being the Indian robot he is, he has emotions as well. This leads the robot to fall in love with the lead actress(none other than Aishwarya Bachan).

Hence this sci-fi movie degenerates to a love triangle a la Ek Phool Do Maali , Sahib, Bebi aur Ghulam. You get the drift?

Also, as opposed to this Hollywood counterparts who have ambitions of world  domination our Robot is driven by two emotions (primarily found in all Indian actors . especially in the 70s), revenge and love.

One of the main failed ploys in the movie, was the confuse the audience by introducing another Robot besides the main one and only reveal in the end that it is human after all. That robot was supposed to laugh, cry, scream for help, kiss, dance and repeat the same in the loop. No Acting was not required.  The audiences  though caught on this ploy quite early since almost everyone is quite aware her (Yep none of the than Aishwarya Plastic Bachchan) limited acting and almost no dancing skills (You have to see her dance in all the songs in this movie).
Moving on, Once the Robot openly declares love; captures his damsel (who he cannot acquire otherwise) and he gives a very important thereom about her (which we prove as follows).

Theorem: “Iske Choonese Robot aadmi aur aadmi robot ban jata hai!” (Translated: By her touch, A robot can become human and human becomes a robot)

Derived Theorem : We can derive from this theorem that if this damsel touches a person multiple-times, that person can switch from human to robot to human to robot… no not infinitely though. This lead to side effects as we shall see.

Proof: To help prove this theorem, we access to the Abhishek Bachchan Acting Chart. (Please click on the image for large size)

Multi Touch Theorem

This complex chart explains how a person’s acting skill suffers after having been touched multiple times by Aishwarya.  Eventually it leads to a  person to overact and then finally become deaf and dumb.

Returning to the main plot, Lets rewind it a bit because i am also lost. So far we this.

1. Super star Rajni creates a emotionless robot for combat in war, which gets rejected because it is emotionless . (Problem 1)

2. Super star Rajni adds emotions, Robot falls in love with his beau (Problem 2)

3. Robot turns Evil and kidnaps the beau(Problem 3)

4. Robot sets to destroy the world (err.. rather a road where you see a Spencers retail and LifeStyle mall) (Problem 4)

5. Super star Rajni is blamed for all the mess. (Problem 5)

At this point, Super star Rajni has multiple problem and as he scratches his head thinking about them. What do you expect?
Atleast i expected,  that from out of no-where, Aishwarya should pop out in her red dress and say in her faux American Accent
” 5 problems ? 1 solution … L’Oreal blah blah ! ”

Instead she just sits, cries waiting for some one to rescue here. Damn!

At this juncture of the movie, The Robot has cloned himself and created a dozen of them ala Agent Smith who work for him.
The real problem begins now. What do these clones do? In the Matrix the agent Smith Clones fight against the One – Neo.
And the One has super-powers to fight them off.
But here, there is no super-power one just our super-star Rajni with  limited-emotions Aishwarya and a bunch of police guys (who are there to get their asses whipped anyways) . Nope not much to fight against.

So instead the robots (clones) to show off their skills create various formations like a human (err.. robot) sphere, wall , line (just like beanstalk which jack climbed) and into a snake that consumes metallic vehicles.

Eventually the movie ends at one point and the robot is dismantled; concluding that such evil emotions are present in all humans; emotions of hatred, anger, jealousy and the robot was just a symbol for that? Well wouldn’t a Deepak Chopra book sufficed ?

Ok now, enough of jokes coming to real review of the movie.
No wait. you are still here? reading this?
Hmmm… You say you are still not going to watch this movie ?
Then all i can say is paint your hair blonde and call yourself “Britney!!”

The mind is wandering. A lot of thoughts come to it. Thoughts mostly from the past. Its late in the night almost close to midnight. A gentle breeze ruffles the trees out the window. A cat gives a shriek far away. Maybe it got a prey or may it became a prey.
Inside the room,  his mind is wandering. Thoughts about the past, things that were, things that could be, today’s affairs, office gossip, fantasies. He can’t focus, can’t control his mind. He never could. He lets its wander.
He is sweating, panting a-bit even. He hears an orgasmic scream; looks down. He sees she is satisfied. He sees her eyes are closed, enjoying every moment, wishing if they could last forever. He moves away from her. She hugs him. A gentle liplock. She whispers that she loves him.  He responds as gently as possible “So do I, honey” knowing that there is little truth in his words .

What does all this mean for her, he thinks. She thinks of this as night of passion, as this relation is maturing, moving towards a more logical direction. She sees a future. Settling down, Marriage and then a kid or two. She is in love.
And he? He is lost. This night is not any different from any other night. He is all out of love.
He looks at her; she is fast asleep now . He sets her aside gently, does not even bother dressing himself; moves towards the window looking at the dark night with no moon. He lights his cigarette from the pack lying on the nearby side table; struggles a bit with his rusty lighter but finally lights it. He takes a real deep one in and releases it slowly….

He can almost predict how it will  end. The tears, the broken dreams and the accusations. “You used me! “, “You cheap bastard!!” and obviously he inability to express why.  He smirks. It has been this way for a while now. One meaningless relation after another. He is searching for something, someone. He is lost.

He thinks of when he was happy last. His mind travels back to the college days; he was truly happen then. His was truly in love then. What happened then? He chickened out. She was older than him, almost 5 years old. She had lost quite a few years . Now her age was to get married. Her parents wanted her to get married. She could not go against them. He was not ready then. He was confused, he chickened out ……..he ran away……………away from her …..and now he is lost !

Her Story

Its 9am. She is stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The radio is churning one bollywood hit after another. They all sound the same to her. In the middle a RJ, shares all the latest bollywood gossip  from the local tabloid. She slams the Audio system off in disgust. A motorcyclist cuts across; brushing her car. She cringes and gives out a loud honk. In her mind she gives out a loud wail. She is visibly irritated.
Her mind wanders ; wanders to the past; to fond memories; memories of him; memories that  hurt her now.
She has learnt to control these thoughts now though, but today she is not in the mood. She lets go.

They were in college, in love and happily living in a fantasy world, believing things would work out; work out against all odds. College ended and reality struck. Her age caught up and it was time for her to get married. She could not go against her parents. She panicked; freaked out even. She wanted to be with him for the rest of life. But he was young, very young and she panicked in fear of losing him. She became defensive; pressurized him.
She scared him off. He ran away…. forever.

Then the marriage proposals followed. She put a pretty face each time, someone visited.  It went on for a while. But she then she  just couldn’t. She broke down.  Her parents wanted her happiness, wanted her to settle down but they saw that was not going to happen anytime soon. They let her be.

Why is she in such a mood today? Her sister called in the morning. Her sister is in the US, settled there; now married with kids and living a happy life; living the American dream. Her parents are proud of her. She is also happy for her. But she feels insecure inside, feels that people always talk about them, compare them, feels she  has let her parents down, feels they are not happy because her; not proud of her. Her parents, who she worships, who stood by her through the thick and thin.
She wants them to be happy; they want her to find happiness.

His Story

Its dark in here. Through the window, he sees streams of vehicles passing by. He is sitting next to strangers. Its a shared taxi service. He is being transported from his hotel in Sunnyvale to the San Francisco Airport. He was in the US for a couple of  months. It was his first trip to his dream country. He had a great time. His mind wanders … He recalls all the trips he had. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Napa valley. He cherishes these moments.

He is jolted out of his thoughts,  when the lights come on. The car has stopped to pick up another passenger. The lights come on temporarily. He is too bleary eyed to notice who got in. The lights go out again. His mind wanders again. He is reminded of the countless trips to the Twin Peaks, San Francisco from where you can see the whole city from the top. The grandeur, the lights . He was held in awe each time he went. Sipping beer from the location, he felt like the king of the world.
His thoughts are interrupted intermittently though.  He suddenly feels anxious. A sudden sense of uneasiness overcomes him. He breaks a sweat.  He feels tired. Why this sudden anxiety? It is as if something has changed in his surroundings. He feels uncomfortable. He looks out of the window. He sees a continuous streams of lights on the expressway. The  car takes an exit.
After a while the car stops. They reached the airport. The lights come on.

Her Story

She is standing along a driveway, awaiting her ride. Its dark, a bit chilly. There is a gentle drizzle going on; as it always does during this season. She grows impatient.  Her ride arrives finally.  She gets in the vehicle, without taking notice of anything or anyone.
Her mind wanders. Her first trip to the US; Her trip to the big apple; The time she spent with her sister who is based in New Jersey and her sister’s family.  Again a sense of  joy and sadness.  Then a short business trip to the bay area. Now she is heading to the airport and from there back to her homeland. She had a great time, meeting a lot of people and except for the odd question about getting married popping up here and there, she loved it.

She is exhausted both mentally and physically. She closes her eyes and go into a semi-sleep state for a while.
The car swerves a bit, she awaken. The airport has arrived. She is alert now; wipes her face with some wet tissues, tidies her hair. The car stops. The light come on. She is ready to get down.

The lights inside the car are ON.  His pulse is racing. He may have skipped a beat of two. His eyes are transfixed. His mind is now focused. She has lost her tiredness. She is awake now both mentally and physically.
She is looking at him directly and he is directly at her.
The mind no longer wanders … it is focused and it is staring at its destiny.

As the wise folks one said “You should do exciting stuff to keep one’s marriage alive… add some spice to life…blah…blah”
This missus took these words quite literally. So for our 3rd wedding anniversary, the missus wanted to do things different. Obviously such things trigger fear and anxiety than joy to her counterpart.
I said innocently, “Do things differently? Please elaborate”.
The missus would then elaborate the whole thing for the next 2 hours which could have been spent something more useful like (watching re-runs of friends, reading something important like the evolution of porn on wiki and so…).

In short, the missus decided to have a performance review . She decided to have a performance review of all my activities which i performance or rather did not perform.

Well, the missus being a team-lead at work too the job at hand seriously and formalized the process and handed me with a form with the following categories (with explanations provided by me):

1. Following workplace organization methodologies like 5S , proper SCM standards etc.:

Now SCM, as per the wiki is defined ; Supply chain management (SCM) is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers. Yeah a whole lot of blah blah…
At home it meant whether the dirty clothes made to the laundry bag, then to the washing machine, then to the drying area and then to the laundry-wala.

This is evaluated by how many times the missus had to yell

“Laundry bags are full!”,

“Bathroom is stinking!”,

“I am wearing my fave red-colored-black-ribboned-off-white-laced-US-bought shirt after 3 months!” etc etc.

Important aspect of SCM  is using the right resources

Also, did i use the correct resources?
Missus: “Did you use the blue soap powder for dark clothes?”
Me(thinking): “Blue soap powder? dark clothes?” (having no clue what or where is this mysterious blue soap powder is)
Me: Yes sure!
Missus: You sure? ( giving quizzical ACP-Pradyuman look from CID)
Me: Obviously, I love you baby.. Did you see the new sale at eastside…. (Change topic)
Missus nonchalanced…sees right through my trick) “Also put these clothes in the yellow laundry bag”
Me thinking hard this time)  Yellow? We have red (for dark clothes), blue(for white), green(laundry).
Me: Surely (and frantically searching for that yellow bag!)

After SCM, now 5S!
5S: sorting, straightening, systematic cleaning, standardizing, and sustaining . The list describes how items are stored and how the new order is maintained.

At home, it means
“Did the week old dirty mug reach the sink ?” ,
“Did the old newspaper go into the right place?” ,
“Did the garbage go out in the right time?” .Note: Right time indicates time before the house was cordoned of as “toxic area! Enter at your own risk!”
Missus: “How many times do i have to you, that this thing belongs in the study area?”
Me: Absentmindedly “yeah,yeah…..wait we have a study area?” . I have lived in the same house as the missus for the last 2 years and i f***ing don’t know about any “study area”.

The areas in the house i know were: eating area, sleeping area (which is any place in the house where i can stretch my legs without hurting my back) and thinking area(yeah toilet).

Apparently i was shown this “study area” twice last year! Surely this is will hurt my ratings.

Another aspect of this 5S is not only keeping things properly, but remembering where which thing is kept.
Missus:”Where is the <really-important-worth-million-dollars> document? Hope you have kept it properly?”
Me: (grinning with pride, brimming with confidence) “Yes dear, I have kept it very properly!” (which i actually did)
Missus: “Where?!”
Me(thinking): Omigod, i don’t have a clue . I know i kept it properly, but where?
Me pride gone, confidence broken) “Ummm…arr.bb..gg… I love you baby There is a sale….”
Missus cutting in) “STFU! and search for that document”

So apparently, keeping things properly is important, but remembering where it is kept is the most important thing!.

2. “How many times i have told you that?” test.
(no need for explanations, examples will do
How many times i have told you that :
“have a bath before going to work”
“shave before anyone from my side comes home”(especially kids, without a shave…apparently i don’t look cool like Abhishek Bachchan or Vivek Oberoi but really scary like Irfan Khan explaining inflation)
“go to the gym!!”
“pay electricity bills, before they come personally to give notice”
“to stop writing stupid blogs and doing something useful with life”
“go to the dentist and fix those yellow teeth and no they are not golden but yellow” and so on…..

3. Eyeing potential acquisition which will never happen:

In other words.. staring at other beauties (ladies/gurls/aunties) besides the missus.
Oh wait. Not aunties. Just the rest.

Missus: “You go to the gym so regularly but haven’t shed a single pound??” (which translates to Do you work out or chat/gossip/flirt/stare at other beauties ?)

Missus: “Ahhrg! Don’t brake so urgently.. Pay attention to the road while driving” ( not to  Scarlett Johannson’s minimally clad bilboard!!”

This is also depends on the amount of the newspaper-reading-time spent on reading PuneMirror ogling Megan Fox, Pamela Anderson etc in her their finest attire.

Another factor  here is how many times i commented on a (female) friend’s photo on facebook about her new look, new hair cut but failed to recognize that the missus looks different after going to the parlor (got a new haircut, did her eyebrows, got a facial and even colored her hair).

4. Being a Cheapo!

That means taking the missus to eat at the road side chinese restaurant instead of “MainLand China” citing that even in China the best food is served on the road side.
Also, going to Shoppers’ Stop, Westside etc during non-sale season and not “liking” any dress.
The catchline “This makes you look fat!” always works.
Taking the missus to Goa during off-season (when rates are half) .
“Off season, no crowds na baby” or “Goa is so hot, but see Pune is hotter” and so on..

5. Wisecracks.
Now this means cracking jokes (especially pjs which *only* i think are funny) anytime,  especially when the missus watching some tense moments her favorite sitcoms like CID, Jhansi ki Rani, Indian Idol etc . Yes they are sitcoms, but you need to see it a different light.

Now the evalution was done by the missus, the ratings given and then she had that look in her eyes. Yes the ACP Pradyuman look which is followed by the now-made-famous statement “Daya , darwaza tod do!” . In this case the darwaza was me!
Missus: “What kind of performance rating do you expect?”
Me: “I love you baby… You look slim today”
Missus: “I was only chubby when i was kid. What rating ?”
Me: “There is a sale in today…”
Missus: “-ve points for using clichéd sentences”
Then i swiftly reached my pocket and unleashed something from it (as a quick as Batman would unleash a new gadget on to his opponent … ok not as a quick…who am i kidding?).
Something that shines, exhales brillance and radiance.

At this moment, the look on the missus’s face changed to wonder, pleasant surprise and exuberance.

What was that something? It was the girl’s best friend !

Me:(thinking) “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend! …what crap … they are a man’s best friend to get them out of such situations”

This missus is damn happy, forgets about any reviews, performances etc and hugs me . I again, as swiftly as Batman try to snatch the performance review paper and trash it. The missus faster than me (obviously) swings around, holds on to the paper, gives a wry smile…. “There is always next year na honey !”

I was able to spend around 2 months in the US; since my employer sent me here for work. Thats a decent timeframe to get a good insight into this nation. Since childhood, i have had a steady and healthy dose of the US lifestyle (colloquial words,
language, geography, history etc) through all the US sitcoms and movies, i have wasted my time watching.(which i continue wasting my time on )

What did i expect when i was about to land ?
Well, one of the best things about whenever i travel is i never keep any expectations. This comes naturally to me and it luckily works since it doesn’t build any prejudice. Also,as said its the journey that matters not the destination.
So i never had any expections, just the excitement of getting here.

How do i feel about the US now?

Well, i have got a much better look at the country now and has strengthened my feeling about it being a great place to stay.
I don’t want to get into the debate of whether US is better to live in than India which eventually boils down to whether US is better than India. We can’t compare these 2 countries which very different demographics and economic status(emerging economy vs developed economy). Enough said.

What i can say though, is that living in a country/culture/community which is drastically different than the one in we have spent all our years in since birth should be good/interesting experience and even adventurous. It will help to get
a better perspective in life. I never thought from this point of view. An American ex-colleague told me this idea and wants
come to work in India for a few years just for this experience.
The money angle never attracted me, as it does for me and probably will never in the future. Just the experience is probably what attracts me.
I have written about some of my experiences here

—-

I continue to write from the Hong Kong airport. i am sitting pretty after a nice shower (150 HKD) and some good taiwanese food. Shower at the airport ? Why you ask?

The last interaction my body had with water was on friday and today is tuesday.So lets continue; the thing i want to write about now is the New York trip.

My (sister-in-law) sil lives in Jersey city (just a river away from NYC). One can practically see part of the Manhattan skyline. I reached the night before Black Friday. We got up at 330am and went shopping. My sil (and friends) got some really good deals on shoes, clothes and electronics. We saw people who had a many handfuls of bags just sleeping in various positions in the mall. They had “shopped till they dropped”. Unfortunately, my sil literally dropped i.e fell sick( flu symptoms). Saturday went in taking care of her, which meant she slept and i watched TV. I was there in-case of an emergency. Yeah right.

The next day though, i was kicked out of the house literally.So now i was to roam around NYC with minimal knowledge of their underground metro system.  Minimal knowledge means, i just knew that a metro system exists.

Here are the places i visited ( more pics, less talk):

Brookyln Bridge and Times Square

Both are a must for any tourist in NYC. Brookyln Bridge is the first suspension bridge in the world and unless you have been living under a rock you wouldn’t need a intro about Times Square. Brookyln bridge attracts a lot of crowd from around the world. So you get to see a lot of attractions besides the bridge . Times Square has enough electrically-lighted billboards to light a 100 villages in India.

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Brookyln

Brookyln is forms one of the main parts of NYC. Others are Queens, Manhattan etc. The view of the Brookyln brdige with Manhattan skyline in the background is one of the most recognized shots of NYC and undoubtedly the most beautiful .

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Top of the World

Gives a real top view of all the buildings in NYC.. Chryler, Metlife, etc

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Central Park

Uptown Manhattan. Real Uptown. High classy folk live around the Central Park made popular by sitcoms like Friends, Seinfeld and a real park. The only one in Manhattan

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Downtown Manhattan

Another most popular landmark in NYC. Wall Street, the BULL etc are few of the places to see.

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Well, as Macaulay Culkin has showed it is so easy to get to lost in NYC. and i have a history of getting lost even while going to from home to my workplace, but the NYC Metro System is so well laided out and organized .. all i could do was try to get lost!!

More than his struggles and efforts (that are showcased brilliantly); the movie describes his entire journey in a comical manner; where Phalke himself is shown to an highly energetic/enthusiastic funny person which is really credible.
This less-than-2-hrs movies has some really rib-tickling scenes and keeps the entire audience engaged through out.
The acting is natural. The comic timing is very accurate. The pace of the movie is great.
The entire cast has really acted well but the movie surely belongs to Nandu Madhav who portray the effervescent Dadasaheb Phalke effortlessly.
Some scenes really stand out like Phalke convincing some prostitutes to work in his film; some random problem disturbing their ultra serious scenes; Phalke’s friends taking him to a mental hospital etc.

All Bollywood movie directors who claim to make funny movies should rest their egos and study this movie very thoroughly to see how real funny movies are made.

The time period of 1911 is showcased very nicely with olden style buses, roads, dressing sense and even olden-style prostitutes . Since there were no bifocals then, Phalke is constantly shown switching between two sets of spectacles and is always confused about wearing which again has great comic timing.

Two dialogues that really standout from the movie (and which will remain golden forever) are:

1. While shooting for a scene for the Movie, one of the assistants mentions that in the background scenery there are some
jackfruit trees and during Raja Harishchandra’s time there weren’t any. the Father of Indian Cinema coolly responds (translated to English) ” Thats all right, the main focus should remain on story-telling!” .
Are you listening Mr. Cameron ?

2. Towards the end of the movie, the English folk want Phalke to move to England to make movies for them where there is enough funding and audience. But Phalke clearly rejects the idea saying (translated to English) ” If I move to England, how will the film cinema industry flourish in India?” which clearly floor even the Gora log.

Enough said, Go watch the movie!

Comments/Suggestions/Constructive criticism/ Critiques are highly encouraged .

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