Hmmm ...

It's been a while since I've been here. I've been doing things, reading books, watching movies, going to libraries, checking out audiobooks (got the whole collection of Hunter S. Thompson), eating exotic food, meeting old school friends, driving around and stuff. Its ok.

But slowly i am also getting a sense of this place. Most people don't have any idea of what anybody else is doing or going through. In India (because that is where i come from) we used to know what was going on with people around us. I don't know my neighbors here. I've been here about four months and nothing - not even their names or interests - said hi to one and offered to help him mow the lawn because he is a middle aged, elder person who was mowing the lawn by himself. But nothing except "Thanx but no thanx, i got this covered" and a smile. Which is fine - but seriously i don't even know his name.

Not that i knew everybody in the neighborhood in India - but i did know quite a few of them. Here nobody is interested.

hmmm. This is me generalizing, but I hope i never become as socially isolated as a white man in America ...

Lock n load

America.

It's tough. Even though I haven't seen much at all. But it is tough.

Jobs are scarce. Money is scarce. Plenty of things to do and buy though. But things are going to get tougher. When I was about to come here, a lot of people told me it was just bad timing. The economy was bad and that getting a job wasn't going to be easy. And yes, I don't deny it.

But this is America. This is where opportunity is to be found in crisis. This is where dreams come true. And I'm here to live the dream. It's not a dream about getting a job and making money - it's a dream about experiencing what only American people can - a life where you do your thing regardless of what the world has to say - live and do as you please and be inconsistent about it. Give with an open heart and buy with a bigger wallet. Care deep and passionate and spread your wings and fly!!

The time is now. The dream is rich.

America. Lock n load!

It's Official

I'm thirty two.

I'm looking for a job.

The Colbert Report is among the coolest shows on TV. (Why?)

David Kessler proved "Foods high in fat, salt and sugar alter the brain's chemistry in ways that compel people to overeat".

David Kessler appears on the Colbert Report. (That's why!)

I am thirty two.

!!!!

Well, the Silver Lining - one step closer to hitting the mid life crisis and buying a small fighter plane.

And I celebrated the birthday for the first time with my wife and in the US of A.

And my beautiful and thoughtful wife gave me a remote controlled Formula One car.

HOW COOL IS THAT?!!!

I'm glad I'm thirty two!!

Boy o boy o boy!

Kursiyan!!

I just met a woman who has been helping orphans around the world find a roof over their heads, an education for their mind, food for their stomachs and hope in their eyes. And when I mean around the world, i mean in Ethiopia, India, Tanzania, Congo, Indonesia, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Jordan.

She is a grandmother who loves spending time outdoors in the sun with her grandkids and us. When I got to her place, she was in the playground by herself enjoying the sun. Hard to believe that she keeps austere company, like the Head of States, Captains of the Industry and beautiful children across the world. This woman single-handedly raised over a million dollars for the kids last year. And she did it with a zeal and passion that few can rival. And she did it out of her home/office.

This is Norma Nashed who runs a charity called Reaching Hearts for Kids. One look at her and I saw a life rich with experience and one that is always open to new ideas.

When I was in Mumbai, I used to pride myself on being an optimist - but also a little cynical, like the urban people are. I'm sure the urban people here are similar and maybe this is just me being in America with fresh new eyes, but I do have a sense that here is life brimming with possibilities. Here is life where passion can be translated into a work ethic, which can be translated into success. Here is perspective that is un-jaded. Here is where dreams can be made true.

Maybe I am just being enthusiastic, maybe just the newness of the country - but its feels like a life lush with hope. A better life, a better future. Cheers!

Monday

Here I am, at home by myself on a wet monday morning. I've applied for a couple of jobs and I'm sick of it already. Home Improvement is on TV - smiles :)

I am now officially a permanent resident. Got my Green card (which isn't Green btw) and today I'm going for my SSN. But why does it still feel like I need to be out of here. Maybe it's just the sitting at home that's bothering me. Maybe I should go out but it's raining. Maybe I should read a book or a comic book. Maybe I should write one.

Well. I'm watching American advertising ... which is not all that much better than indian advertising. The good thing is that there are no fairness cream advertisements. But here you do have legal ads telling you that if you've been hurt at work, of if you've taken a certain advertised medicine and suffered, we can help you make money by suing the people concerned.

Some things never change ... no matter where you go. Silly ads are always silly ads. But the good thing about being here - we've got Sci Fi network! :)

The Not So Usual

Driving on the wrong side of the road and driving pretty fast at that. That's unusual. Applying and waiting for jobs is unusual ... because people get absorbed pretty quickly where I come from. Me writing this post on my MacBook is unusual, because i've never really owned a MacBook before. Seeing people of different races in a train is unusual because there's generally only brown skin in the trains where i come from. Oh and lots of room here to hang on too!

There's also grocery shopping which is endless brands and endless aisles of endless brands. 16 different types of breads and it's not even the biggest grocery shop around. There's daytime TV. And there's the ease of everything - from shopping to GPS on my mobile phone. Can't get lost anymore and that's not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing. It's just another not so usual thing.

Wearing layers of clothing is also pretty unusual. And using garage doors that open with remotes, cars that have cruise control so you don't even have to press the gas pedal anymore, that's right gas - not fuel or petrol. :)

And all sorts of people, wearing all sorts of clothes, smiling at each other even though we haven't seen each other before. And food - all sorts of it - ethiopian, korean, mediterranean, spanish, greek, italian, chinese, indian, turkish, nepali, moroccan, mexican - it's all here. And grocery and liquor shops the size of two 3 BHK apartments and i've only been here for 2 and something weeks now.

Yep, not so usual.

I'm still looking

America. It's a lot of things - a lot of different things. It's the land of opportunity and a beautiful country. It's the heart of the western world, the land of the free.

It's been two weeks since I've been here. And I now own a MacBook and a Blackberry which I'm going to change to an iPhone soon. I've been driving around and I haven't smoked a cigarette since I got here. Nor have I missed one. I think about it, but now I just don't care about it. It's an honest chance for me to give it up. Let's see how long that lasts.

All day long, I'm applying for jobs. At other times I'm meeting all the people who are my wife's friends and relatives. And I'm driving and I'm surfing and I'm watching TV... but I want out. I want to see America. I want to see the sights that the tourists see... and I haven't seen them yet. I want to know what it's like to eat a hot dog from a street vendor, like I had the vada pav at home.

But I just got here. So I think I have time.

But I'm still waiting and looking. My grand adventure will begin soon. Till then there's Dish TV, the Nintendo Wii, and my MacBook.