AmreekanDesi

…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.

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They say a picture is worth a million words.

This one was discovered in a discount household store in Newyork.

So far we had only seen Indian stores selling stuff with prices printed in rupees. A non desi store selling Tide detergent for Rs 23 was, let’s just say, exciting.

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India finally made itself known to Pope Benedict.

Italian automaker Piaggio presented a Pope-d version of the ubiquitous Indian autorikshaw to the Pope in the Vatican recently.

From the TOI report

“These vehicles were given a complete look and feel of a Popemobile by putting a white coloured hood, white tyres, seat upholstery, and white body paint. The insignia on the doors is specially handcrafted. The entire vehicle was given a complete unique decor to suit the aura of His Holiness,” Ravi Chopra, CMD of Piaggio’s Indian subsidiary, told TOI.

In true journalistic style, TOI was quick to title the report ‘A three-wheeler made in India is Pope’s new ride‘.

It’s like me emailing Sonia Gandhi a link to my blog and saying that she is addicted to my writing. Wait…she already is? Never mind.

(Image adapted from the original version on TOI)

July 4th. The American Independence day. A day for barbeques, picnics, family get-togethers, and fireworks!

The Macy’s ‘spectacular‘ has been a Newyork tradition for the past 32 years. This year we decided to watch it from Roosevelt Island, which supposedly offers the best views of the show.

The show was nice. I probably didn’t enjoy it as much as i did the first time two years back, but then the first time is always more enjoyable.

Here’s a video.

(There’s more videos of the show on my youtube page, for those who are interested)

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Right here in Newyork’s backyard exists a quaint little neighbourhood called Jackson Heights. Sometimes also known as Little India. A visit there and you actually feel like you are in some Delhi market. Chandni Chowk anyone?

Here’s some pictures of this great Indian getaway.

Did you want to buy some Jewellery?

Some nice Indian clothes?

More Jewellery?

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Be Indian.
Buy Indian.
Think Indian.

And coming soon to a pharmacy store near you….

WE SPEAK INDIAN!!! REALLY…

In India (and else where) people find exotic woods to make the doors of their houses. Some doors are made of metal for enhanced security. Some doors are even made of glass, albeit the people living in those houses not being allowed to throw stones.

But take this. Soon, you might actually be able to make doors of your house in, guess what, your own produce. Just how cool is that!

Sulabh (of the Sulabh Shauchalaya fame) has found some way to create some sorta strong raw material out of human waste, and have used it to design doors!

Regardless of the gross factor, this one has me impressed. This is ingenuity at its practical, gruesome, ugliest best. Once you get these dooors what would you do – wash hands every time you enter the house?

That is the exact headline of this article i found on the Times of India website. The headline was interesting. Don’t we keep hearing people cry all the time about the ever rising IT salaries?

A closer look turned into disappointment. Disappointment and Disenchantment. Disenchantment with how media people just write anything whether or not it makes any sense.

Heard a lot about constantly swelling tech salaries in India and how this is undermining India’s IT edge. The rising salaries may be “bleeding” Indian IT cos, but they are still far from the global level, as the Mercer’s 2007 IT Pay around the World survey shows.

Based on gross annual total cash, IT staff at all levels are paid the most in Switzerland, where the IT Manager job pays an average of $140,960 annually. The same job level in Denmark (the second-highest-paying country) pays $123,080, while Belgium (third) pays an average of $121,170. The UK and Ireland are ranked fourth and fifth, with an average pay of $118,190 and $108,230, respectively. In the United States, the average IT manager earns $107,500 a year compared with Canada (ranked eight) at $93,340.

Talking of low paying countries, Bulgaria, Philippines, Indonesia, India and Czech Republic pay the lowest annual total cash packages to their top IT personnel on a global level. The survey found that IT managers in Vietnam, Bulgaria and the Philippines receive the lowest pay, respectively, at $15,470, $22,240 and $22,280 a year. Indian IT managers were fourth from the bottom, earning an average of $25,000.

Beats me how salaries can be compared across countries and currencies. Indian IT Managers earning $25k translates into Rs 10,00,000 (10 lakhs) which by any standard is a lot of money in India. This salary would probably compare with a $100k salary in the US, despite being a fourth in absolute terms.

Has anybody heard about the concept of purchasing power parity? I know many people who wouldn’t even be in the US if they could get a 10 lakh salary in India. But still, the US ranks sixth from the top and India fourth from bottom.

Sucks being an Indian IT guy!!

First there was American Idol, and then came along America’s Got Talent.

Watch Kashif Memon tear apart Hrithik Roshan and still get through the opening rounds of America’s Got Talent.

This guy is a Pakistani living in the US. As part of his act he performed the Ik Pal Ka Jeena dance. The moves won over the audience, despite the fact that this guy has no expressions at all, which are normally a big part of a decent dance performance.

To his credit, he did that funky hand step pretty nicely though. Made me wonder, if he could have such an impact with this performance, what would happen if we had the real Hrithik gyrating his very limber body. Looks like America is all set for a decent Indian performer to win one of these shows. Fits in nicely with the all to0 prevalent diversity theme. Good karma for the TV channels.

So all you people aspiring for Indian Idol, the first one of you on the boat to America wins the next American Idol. Seriously.

Anyway, this was an interesting combo. A Pakistani dancing to a Bollywood movie number in full Hindi glory, in front of a Chicago crowd, and getting loud cheers despite all his shortcomings. World getting smaller, did someone say?

What was rather amazing was that as he started with his introduction in his very FOB accent, one could hear the crowd jeering. But soon, they were rooting for him as he turned it on.

By the way, this guy ended up reaching the semifinals before being told by one of the judge that he had no talent whatsoever. The same judge who had said earlier that he was the most extraordinary dancer he had ever seen. Amazing, these talent show judges!

Videos from the next two rounds:

Round 2

Round 3- SemiFinals

1. Do you vote?

1. In the club elections? Always
2. Hell yea
3. They are all equally bad. What’s the use?
4. Used to. Till they ended reservation for my caste.

2. You are stopped at a traffic light. The light turns green and you take four seconds to move. People behind you start honking. You?

1. Stop the car. Get out. Wave a middle finger at the world.
2. Lean out of the window. Curse. Move on.
3. Get moving. These people sometimes carry guns.
4. Take your scooter out of the way.

3. You are stopped at a traffic light. The light turns green and the person in front takes four seconds to move. You?

1. Honk and continue honking till he moves.
2. Honk and show him the finger.
3. Wait patiently for him to move.
4. Dont find it hard to drive your two wheeler out of such situations.

4. Your kid fails in the fourth standard. You?

1. Beat the crap out of him
2. Are helpless. Could never pull him away from the playstation
3. Talk to him and find out his psychological problems.
4. Serves him right. Will listen to me now on.

5. Your telephone has been dead for a week and despite your repeated complaints there’s no signs of anything happening anytime soon. You?

1. Hire a supari killer
2. Go on hunger strike outside the telephone exchange
3. Telephone? Dead? What are you talking about dude? I just have a mobile.
4. Crib to neighbors about it for another month when it finally gets repaired.

6. Your car gets stolen. You go to the police station and they won’t file an FIR. You?

1. Slap the officer on duty and tell him who you are
2. They did file an FIR. I went with my cousin’s elder brother’s uncle who is the area councilor
3. Didn’t bother. Everybody knows they don’t file such trivial complaints. I’ll buy another car. I have a lot of money.
4. I don’t have a car

7. The neighbor just bought a Honda City. You?

1. Already own two Cities. No pun intended.
2. Are going to pool together some money and get a Corolla next week.
3. Are happy with your Santro
4. Laugh. There’s no way. He’s your neighbor.

8. Mayawati?

1. Is a bitch.
2. Sigh.
3. Just transferred me.
4. Is awesome. She is going to be Prime Minister.

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A four day event called Incredible India! kicked off in Newyork today. This event is an attempt to showcase India to America, and will comprise several business meets, panel discussions, and cultural events.

If you missed today’s events, there’s still three days to go, and plenty going on. We were there to cover the action, and sure liked what we saw. Here’s our account of the opening day of the event.
There were a host of events today including some high profile ones involving among other things, entry by invitation only. Unfortunately, we are not yet important enough to be invited to events involving union ministers and CEOs. So we settled for the public events.

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We have been seeing a lot of India in Newyork these days…wonder why?

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