Of flips and flops

OK I’m *not* talking about those plastic things you wear on your feet; even I cannot be so bored as to focus my unlimited literary talents on something that insignificant (there will always be those who argue that nothing else I’ve written is really *significant* either but what the hell :P). Well anyway, now that we (I) have decided that this post is indeed of some importance, here goes.. And *no*, I’m not geeky enough to actually post something about those tiny clocked devices sitting on your processor!

I realize the title is probably not entirely appropriate but the flip is supposed to refer to the act of ‘flipping’ tortillas at which I’ve become fairly adept of late. And this is supposed to be a segway into the general topic of cooking at which also I’ve become adept over the last couple of months. Some say that an overdose of bland sandwiches and fatty burgers will make anybody interested in cooking but reasons not withstanding, I have really begun to enjoy cooking! The hiss of steam, the soft popping of mustard seeds in hot oil, the vibrant display of colors as stuff is added and cooked, the wonderful smell of spices.. aah.. heaven! And then of course, there’s the pleasure of tasting the results of all your hard work :) Just for completeness sake, here are a few things I’m good at cooking (completely self-proclaimed, modesty isn’t one of my strong points :P) - Carrot Halwa, Rasam, Sambar, Broccoli curry and of course, tortillas, where this all started!! Its an altogether nice feeling; wish I had enough time to do it more often and try new things!

Now that I’m done rambling about flipping stuff, let me get to the flop - this is supposed to refer to poker, another thing I’ve learnt recently. Its a really nice game, with burns and turns, flushes and straights, doublets and full houses. Its a mix of luck and skill and you just don’t realize time flying by. I can now actually flip the coins in one hand, Casino Royale style :) I may never in my life go “All in - forty million five hundred thousand dollars” but what the hell, its a load of fun anyway!

Ok I shall now stop boring you (I doubt you would have come all the way down here if you’re bored but its an obligatory thing to say) - its time for some hot Indian dinner followed by a game of poker! :)

New website

I now have a new website at http://www.cs.utah.edu/~udipi

Shouldn't it be different??

I promised myself I would keep this blog active but it just was not to be! Anyway, for those of you who care enough to read, here is my perspective on the United States, three weeks after I came on shore "FOB"! Just for the record, my first week here was spent in different parts of the Bay Area in California. In one short week, I visited San Francisco, San Jose, Stanford, Walnut Creek and Berkeley. The next two weeks have been at Salt Lake City, Utah, which is to be my home for atleast the next two years.

Anyway, SEVIS is now convinced I am who I say I am and where I say I am (if I wasn't then why would I say I am? :P) . I am ready to get a social security number. I just signed the lease on an apartment. In short, I am close to being a non-nonentity. Mostly I feel the transition has been smooth and largely hassle free.

George Bernard Shaw once said "I dislike feeling at home when I'm abroad". I'm not entirely sure I agree/disagree with him, but naturally, when you land in a new place, you would expect to be confronted by strange people in a strange land. Neither was really true in my case!

My first days away from home were not spent with strange people but with Poorvi (my cousin) and her friends (Thanks Dinesh, Anu, Tina!). They really really made me feel at home right away. The 'land' hasn't really been very strange either because of a)(over)exposure and b) globalization.

I frankly think I was exposed to all things American waaay too much long before I came here! Too many people gave me too many inputs about life here to let any charm remain in moving to a new country. I knew people drive on the wrong side of the road, I knew switches operated the wrong way, I knew people used credit cards EVERYWHERE, I knew everybody was informal, I knew people greeted each other all the time, I knew people (almost) never broke traffic rules, I knew you got cheques (checks) instead of bills and paid with bills instead of cheques (checks), I knew you kept thanking, apologizing and appreciating all the time, I knew that the system of measurements was what the rest of the world had thrown away, I knew you needed 'quarters' to use a pay phone or do the laundry, I knew you called 911 for the cops, I knew the medical system is quite simply put incomprehensible, hell, I even knew a dime was smaller than a cent (well actually I'm not sure about that!). Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that nothing really seems new or different. Every odd thing I see, somebody has described to me before. Or I've seen it on Friends. Or Seinfeld. Or the Tonight Show. Or CNN. Or.. Ok you get my drift!

That brings me to point b, globalization. As Thomas Friedman has argued beautifully in his book, the world is flat. Geographic location doesn't really matter. The liberalization of economies has meant that the same global (American) giants now operate out of Chennai or Bangalore just the same as from San Francisco or New York. You can thus have the same global (American) lifestyle (McDonalds, FedEx, Google, Nike.....) irrespective of where you live. I see the same Coke, the same Subway, the same Toyota Corolla and the same Dell. Maybe this is one of the reasons I don't really feel much of a difference between living in Chennai and SLC. And of course, India has been catching up with the rest of the world on many counts, thus in some ways reducing the gap that existed. For example, a large shopping mall is not something I would gawk at now. Nor is a 6 lane highway. Or a Mercedes S Class. Its all the same!

I must emphasize, however, that I do not think life is EXACTLY the same. It really feels good to know that you can cross the road and the car guy will stop for you. Or that you can count on the 10.08 bus to college coming in at 10.08. Or that you can drink water anywhere and not worry about falling sick. Or that the whole goddamn country is mapped down to the last detail and is available online. Life is convenient. I like it :)

Ok I'm feeling really really really sleepy and will just end abruptly here. There may be mistakes in the blog but I am in no state to read through before I hit "Publish". I may fall asleep without completi

The Second Coming

I realize my old blog has been rotting for quite a while now. It's time for a new life, just as it is a new life for me, in more ways than one! The "-to-be" is gone from the tagline and the stale name is gone too. The sombre black background gives way for something more bright and interesting. The address reflects my new identity as ruddha (more on this in a later post).

Though I don't do these tag things, this time it is what pushed me into actually writing after a really long time! Thanks JK! The tag says I'm supposed to write 8 random things about myself, so here goes:

1. Four years spent in the wrong place have ruined my English. I hope a change of scene combined with more active blogging ( :D ) will take it to pre-SSN levels.

2. I find it hard to sleep before 1 a.m.

3. I love Gtalk. In fact, I love most things Google.

4. I prefer time displays in 24 hr mode.

5. I hate fish. Dead or alive.

6. $*##$#()$@#)_@#$

7. I don't belive anybody cares about what I've written so far or what I will write after this! This doesn't make me any less interested in writing.

8. And finally, at the end of a post mostly about random things, I must say I absolutely detest randomness in any form!

Though I did respond to a tag, propagating it is something I don't think I will ever do. So, I tag NOBODY.