AmreekanDesi » America

Driving in America

amreekandesi — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:45:17 +0000

I’ve been doing a lot of driving in the America these past few days. It has been quite instructive to notice the differences in driving habits with how things work in India.

In one word, lame. No sense of adventure whatsoever.

Sample this – they actually stop their cars for pedestrians. They’ll stop a mile away, and wave you on to move past eve’n if you dont want to. This one time i was standing at the sidewalk just waiting casually, hanging around, when a driver rolls up. He then proceeded to vigorously ask me to cross the street. I politely tried to wave him on, but he wont budge. Finally when he was about to get off the car to help me on, i crossed the road just to get him off my back. I didn’t want to cross the road though.

THAT scared of harming pedestrians, are these people. In India, the pedestrian is the vermin of the road in contrast. Such fun it is to toy with the idiots who dare venture out on foot. I mean, who do they think they are? Mahatma Gandhi out to break the salt law?

Even with fellow car drivers, these people are so nice and courteous. They’ll let people move into their lanes if they need to turn. They will patiently wait for you to move once the red light turns green.

That’s not how we Indians operate. My first time, i waited for a horn after a green light. Didnt happen. Kept waiting. Light turned red. I showed person behind me a finger in my rear view.

My fingers itch to press the horn, but i cant, because no-one else does. A week later, i don’t even know what the horn of my rental car sounds like. Can you believe that?

And imagine my shock when i go out and find that they still dont know the art of changing lanes. There i was, zipping across lanes and driving like, well, a desi, and they would all be peacefully driving in their lane. The few occasions when they change lanes, they use indicators. INDICATORS?!

You’d think a developed country would waste a little less time being all nice on the road. If i were Obama, i would ban indicators.

Nobody stopping their car on the highway for a quick susu break. Nobody backing down from halfway up a flyover. Nobody opening up their door all of a sudden to deposit a liter of saliva on the road. Nobody shooting another person over a petty scratch on the bumper.

How do they fill their papers if there are no sensational road rage related stories to report? News of the economy, and world affairs? Yuck.

God! It is moments like these that make you miss dear mother India more than ever.

I think i’ll cry.

[Image courtesy: skyscrapercity.com]

[Disclaimer: This applies to most of America. Not to New York, which is a different beast altogether. More on that later]

Who Wants To Become A US Citizen?

amreekandesi — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:57:55 +0000

Check out the following picture to, well, get the real picture.

(Click on the link to go to the original graphic. It’s bulky, at over 2 mb)

Mike Flynn, Shikha Dalmia, and Terry Colon bring us the entire story of US Immigration. Check out the original post here.

Basically, you are screwed if you are a Mexican laborer. The only option for you is crossing that long fence and hoping to survive the desert.

If you are a genius or super rich, then things maybe a bit smoother.

For all others the best bet is to hang out near the Taj Mahal, spot the American getting harrassed and/or groped by a mob. Act heroic and rescue them from their predicament. Get MARRIED. Or adopted.

Just make sure they are Americans. You dont want to get stuck with someone from Canada.

Outsourcing Goes Reverse Gear

amreekandesi — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:49:50 +0000

This made an interesting news report. The Indian government has placed an order of 12 AW01 helicopters that will be used for ferrying our VIPs, at a jaw dropping cost of EUR 560 million. By my calculation thats about Rs 4000 crore.

The huge order for VVIP helicopters from Agusta Westland could save upto 4,000 jobs in the company’s British manufacturing base [link]

In the backdrop of the US and UK making such a big issue of immigration leading to loss of jobs locally, it is rather fascinating to read that an Indian contract is going to save 4000 jobs in Britain.

Life sometimes does indeed come a full circle.

The Great Depression of 2009

amreekandesi — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:02:50 +0000

Eighty years later, life comes full circle.

Two pictures, same struggle.

1929

Hungry Americans waiting in line for food during the great depression.

(Image courtesy: reformation.org)

2009

Desperate job seekers waiting in line just to get into a bursting-at-the-seams job fair in New york city. Picture taken on 24 Feb 2009 in midtown Manhattan by me.

Also see:

Byaadu for some, not too bad for others
How happy am i with my job

Travelogy – Disney World Magic Kingdom

amreekandesi — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:47:57 +0000

In Central Florida lies this little town called Orlando. Orlando’s claim to fame – Amusement Parks.

Walt Disney started the trend a few decades back with Disney World, and since then this city has become an entertainment hub with Disney, Universal studios, and myriad other amusement parks and other attractions.

Disney world is spread over some 27000 acres of land, roughly the size of San Fransisco. It comprises of four theme parks, two water parks, and, hold your breath, twenty three hotels. It is the largest single site employer in the US providing employment to some 65000 people.

Here’s an account of our recent trip to Disney World. Part 1 covers the most famous amusement park, known as Magic Kingdom. Part 2 coming up next will cover Epcot, Disney’s space themed park.

There’s us driving through the parking gates. The parking is huge, so be sure to remember where you parked your car or you could spend the night trying to find your lost car!

After you park the car, you get a tram to take you to the entry terminals. There you take either a ferry or a monorail to reach the actual park.

We chose the ferry.

The view from the ferry. The park is centered around Cinderella’s castle, which you would notice in the background.

There’s the castle.

The Magic Kingdom received some 17 million visitors in 2007 making it the most famous amusement park in the whole world. To put this in perspective, this number is a multiple of the total number of foreign tourist arrivals in all of India on an annual basis.

Another beautiful shot taken with my wonderful Canon S5 camera.

First ride of the day. Go Kart meets Disney. It turned out kinda lame in the end. Great fun for kids, which is the whole point of this theme park.

I never thought i’d live to see this day. That board over there says – Stroller Parking. There were strollers and kids all over the place. Luckily they all seemed happy. Imagine 20k kids crying in symphony.

That’s a little river through which runs a river boat. Not really a thrill ride, but good to rest your legs and take a short break. In the background is the Haunted House which was pretty cool.

The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This roller coaster is probably the park’s most action packed ride for adrenaline junkies.

This one is the coolest. Splash Mountain. Experience a free fall from five stories high. Doesnt sound like much till you actually do it. What they dont tell you is that before the big fall there are a couple of smaller, but very exciting similar falls.

We obviously didnt do much kid stuff, but there’s the usual merry go around rides.

A day at Magic Kingdom is full of walking and planning if you want to cover everything. If you dont plan well, you will be stuck waiting at all the rides. Wait times can be as high as an hour for the most popular ones such as the Splash Mountain.

To help reduce the wait, they let you get a Fast Pass at some of the attractions. These let you skip ahead of the line, like an MP driving on Delhi roads. The caveat is that you can only get one fast pass at a time. If you mix wait times and fast passes, you can manage everything.

I know we did.

Make sure you take along some comfortable shoes! There’s going to be a lot of walking at this place.

How good am i at photography! The blue skies, the setting sun, the reflection in the water, the bird soaring away. Wow!

Every evening there is a fancy parade in the park. There are a whole bunch of fancy colorful floats with all the famous Disney characters that i dont get, and kids seem to adore.

The day we went, it was jam packed. We watched the parade perched atop a lamppost.

The crowd reminded me of the 4th of July celebrations. Only, this happens there every day.

During the night the castle looks amazing. The lighting keeps changing illuminating the castle in different color schemes of blues, greens and other colors i cant name.

All this culminates in a grand fireworks show that might even be better than the one we saw in New york on Independence day! Pretty damn spectacular.

At the Magic Kingdom they certainly create some magic. Its like a different world far away from the hassles of life. Its an awe inspiring spectacle that drives the little kids crazy, as also the older ones.

This was it from Magic Kingdom. Epcot comes up soon. Stay tuned!

Fast Track American Dream

amreekandesi — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:58:24 +0000

Here’s how it used to work.

You come to the US on a work permit (most often the H1B visa). You work for a few years and find an employer willing to file for your green card, which sorta makes you less of a bonded laborer. Once you get the green card and have been living in the country for about 10-12 years you could hope to get citizenship, which makes you superman. You still remain a FOB though.

This was is the path millions have aspired to take. Some got there, some got laid off en route, some took more time, and some took less. But this is how it has been.

Not any more.

Here’s a new fast track path towards becoming superman citizen. Join the US military and serve in the ongoing wars. If you came back on your feet, you will be a proud American citizen. The US military is going to allow immigrant workers to join the military, following which they could get citizenship in as less as six months.

In a far reaching proposal, the US military will open its doors to skilled immigrant guest workers (such as those who hold H-1B visas) who have lived in the US for a minimum of two years. [link]

So friends, go for it. This is a once in a lifetime offer. After all, you have just a one life to gamble away.

Travelogy – Miami

amreekandesi — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 06:23:37 +0000

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then number 99 is going to be my longest post yet.

Me and the missus decided to beat the retreat to that tropical heaven called Miami. Our anniversary week was spent in Florida in a bid to escape the New York chill. As luck would have it, New York got warm during that week, and Florida kinda cold. Life is so full of little mercies.

Here’s an account of our Miami trip, starting with an aerial shot of Miami from the airplane. Note the waters in hues of blue and green, the skyscrapers of downtown Miami, and the little islands southwards.

Spoiler alert: Miami is awesome. You may turn the color of the water after viewing these pictures.

The clear blue waters of the Atlantic ocean. The water was so clear you could see your feet underwater. Never saw that on our own Juhu Beach!

We didn’t waste much time getting to the beach. It was too cold to get in the water so the time was (well) spent taking these amazing pictures.

The streets of Miami – narrow and crowded. Parking is a pain, and sorta expensive. Our hotel charged $35 for one night for parking the car.

That’s a lifeguards station. You may have seen some of these on that famous TV show..what was its name

A lot of cruises operate from Miami, owing to its proximity to the Caribbean. This was a Royal Caribbean ship, all festive and huge.

Back to the beach on a sunnier day, and we finally got to hit the ocean.

Nighttime was spent on a cruise around the city’s coast. This shot at the marina, where all the millionaires park their yachts.

Yachts such as these. Readers may want to compliment me for the awesome photography skills displayed in this and the other pictures.

What can i say? Cranes take my breath away! (Long sigh…)

Fisher island is apparently one of the most elusive addresses in the US. It is only accessible by ferry or helicopter – there’s no road access to the island.

Picture perfect shot of some random buildings.

This yacht is worth over $50 million.

Back at the marina with an attempt to capture the lights reflecting in the water.

Florida travelogy continues next with an account of our Disney World trip.

Mu-barrack Obama

amreekandesi — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:32:20 +0000

Big day for America, and potentially, all mankind. America’s first black president got sworn to office today.

The still underway inauguration gala is a huge show, run at a cost of some $160 million, and witnessed by several million people live in Washington, besides many more viewers of the televised event.

Funnily enough, Obama’s presidency began with a fumble as he was being administered the oath by Justice John Roberts. Was it a rare show of nerves by the great man? Was it a last Bush-ism as the baton got passed over?

An interesting part of the Obama speech was the shoutout to Hindus, while mentioning some assorted religions. Interesting because apparently just about 0.4% (1 milion) of the american population is Hindu.

Obama’s love for hinduism goes deep.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee has announced that a Hindu priest will be among the spiritual leaders who will participate in the national prayer service to be held on January 21, the day following the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States.[link]

America is excited about this president. And for a reason.

Here’s hoping that the next four years will bring forth the change everybody is so eagerly expecting. Hopefully Obama will be able to make the world a better place to live in, like the Superman he is percieved to be.

Spreading the Holiday Cheer

amreekandesi — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:04:47 +0000

2008 was an eventful year.

America went into an economic depression. Indian firms started feeling the heat, and layoffs are a routine affair now. Mumbai saw the worst terror attacks India has ever seen. America got a new and very dynamic leader in Barrack Obama. India sent a mission to the moon. India managed a nuclear deal with the US despite the left’s best efforts to disrupt the deal. Manmohan Singh managed to last his entire term in office.

In sports, China celebrated its coming-of-age party in the shape of the most lavish Olympics ever. India managed to win not one, but three individual medals. Vishwanathan Anand became the undisputed world chess champion. Recently the Indian cricket team walloped England.

Hopefully 2009 will be a little less eventful. Hopefully the economic situation will improve. Hopefully India’ will keep going on the road to progress. Hopefully the elections will give us a stable, strong government that will work on improving the infrastructure and keep up the GDP growth. Hopefully the terrorists will get jobs that lead to retirement and give up their guns for keyboards and mice.

Happy New Year everybody! Hopefully the new year will bring cheer and good health to our lives.

Here’s some pictures taken from all over New york city to brighten up otherwise dull times.

Holiday decorations at Macy’s

The lighting at Bloomingdales – simple yet stunning.

The famous Rockefeller center Christmas tree – probably the most famous Christmas tree in all of New york.

Midtown is the place to be at this time of the year – the decorations are awesome, and the tourists are always so entertaining.

We loved the faux Christmas tree outside Radio City music hall. The Christmas Spectacular show was interesting.

This would be our favorite Christmas tree this season (and last). Secluded hotel in midtown. Hidden gem not yet plundered by tourism.

Christmas tree made of LCD TVs at the Grand Central station.

Times Square is always crowded but right now it is unbelievable. It is like Chandni Chowk right before Diwali. 31st night expects a million people in that little space. Those brave souls will stand in the bitter cold and ravaging winds. They will be put in pens with nowhere to go. No food to buy. No loo to pee. All this to see a crystal ball go down an aluminium pole. We say that calls for a bravery award.

Serendipity 3 is one of the gems of Newyork. The past few times we went there we were surprised by the half hour wait time at this famous dessert place. This week they have wait times of over three hours. We made a booking and then watched a movie at nearby Imaginasian. This Christmas tree was spectacular.

Once again, Happy New Year to our dear readers. Stay warm. Stay safe. Dont drink and drive. If you must, drink a lot of water, and stay clear of the cops. You dont want to get arrested on new year’s day!

When in New York

amreekandesi — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:25:01 +0000

…do not do as the tourists do.

Unless you want to stick out like a sore thumb. Like Arundhati Roy at an RSS morning meeting. Like Jaya Bachchan in Raj Sabha. Like, umm, a tourist in New york. New Yorkers are cruel people. They will bite you. They will trample you. They will take you for a ride, charge double the regular fare, and then show you a finger.

Here’s some tips on how you can avoid becoming one of those tourists.

When in New york, never:

Walk around with a large unfolded subway map in hand. That’s a litmus test for tourists. Even if you need to carry one, don’t make it worse. Do NOT look lost. Act as if you are a map salesman, or just verifying that the map is accurate.

Smile at people. If you are a guy, don’t smile at young pretty girls as they pass by. This would be interpreted as a pass, and you might get a frown, or a finger. Unless of course, you do intend to hit on them. If you are a guy, certainly don’t smile at young guys passing by. Unless…you know! Smiling at random people might be appropriate in other American cities. Not in New york.

Resist if somebody tries to mug you at 2 am in the lower east side. You will not save the 50 dollars in your pocket, but you might lose something slightly more important. Your life. New Yorkers are known to walk with two wallets in their pockets, one of them specifically for prospective muggers. When stopped in the middle of the night, just throw your wallet at them and run for your life. Unless you are Sunny Deol. Heck, even if you are, just run for your life.

Go around with a camera hanging around your neck. That’s a dead giveaway. Do not stop suddenly on a sidewalk, and then take a minute to take a picture of your wife and kids. If you must act touristy, do not hold up people while you do your thing. They will wait for ten seconds, then walk right into the frame. Don’t complain then that New yorkers don’t know their manners.

Stand on the Escalator waiting for it to go up. Or down. If you must, do not block the fast lane for people to pass. New yorkers don’t have that much time. They make things happen. They will not take the stairs, but run up escalators. It doubles the rate of ascent (pun alert!).

Block the doors of a packed uptown 6 train at 5:30pm. You will not get glared at. You will just get trampled under the million people getting in, and the million getting out. A peak hour New york commuter is a lion ready to go, and you would not come out of a train encounter unscathed.

Wait for the walking man road signal to cross the roads. That’s a sure fire tourist test. In other cities people wait patiently at sidewalks for their turn to cross the road. In New york, people just cross the road when they want, traffic or no traffic. See next point.

Rush while crossing a road. No self respecting New yorker ever rushes while jay walking crossing a road, even if there is a Hummer approaching at 5 miles per gallon 150 miles per hour. They can wait.

Walk on the Sidewalk in a file of four, eating your shish kabab, holding hands. That’s quite a sight. We pity you, but the one glance we can afford while rushing past your pitiful group will make our lives just a wee bit more enjoyable. We may enjoy, but for your sake don’t do it.

Go to Times Square. Times Square is a hoax. It is just a bunch of billboards and ten million tourists taking pictures. There is nothing there. Real New yorkers never go there. No. They walk a couple of blocks extra if it helps them avoid the area. Times Square is where you all are. Go there if you want to exchange notes with fellow tourists, or share your stories.

Form an Impression of America. New york is NOT America. New York is a Pandora’s box. New York is the best of the world. It is a veritable museum of society. It is a city of plenty. Plenty of cultures. Plenty of languages and accents. Plenty of food. Plenty of young people. Plenty of rich people. Plenty of Jews. Plenty of Indians. Plenty of nice people. Plenty of taxes. Plenty of rude people. New York is a different story altogether.

(Now try saying plenty twenty one times, just for fun)