Analyze this & that

I finished reading, “The Monk who sold his Ferrari” quite some time ago now. Always wanted to read it because of the rave reviews it was showered upon by the west. The author, Robin Sharma is of Indian origin & has penned down a neat piece of work. I personally think the book is OK; way overrated by the media. The book might have appealed to the west because of the philosophical way of life practiced in India which the author has preached which is unheard of in the west. All said & done, to what extent can a book affect anybody’s life? I have always believed in reading because; you improve your hold over the language, are introduced to new ideas & thoughts & more than once get inspired. However, can books like “how to win friends” or “blah blah by Dale Carnegie” actually change your personality or traits? Is it actually possible to win friends or maintain them by reading a book? One can get influenced by words & get into a trance but what when you come back to the real yourself? More importantly, what about those who don’t read books at all? It certainly doesn’t mean they are not aware of the better things in life. Or is life a better teacher than any books? Do we learn the best from making mistakes or real life experiences?

To leave or not to?

Ever since I have been in US which has been a little less than 5 years, I have always observed friends & acquaintances arguing over an all time favorite “should they settle in India or US”. I have individual opinions on this one & rather have mixed feelings. These days I have also learnt that to have opinions is one thing & to express them in a judgmental way is another; especially so when opinions are so relative. I have also started believing that there are “grey” areas where you can dwell happily & not every thing has to be either right or wrong. However I will try not to stray from the focus.
Honestly speaking, I find US a great place to live & raise kids. A place where they can be what they want to without yielding to the pressure of what people think is right. I have observed one thing every single day since last 5 years; the level of respect I got as an individual cannot be disregarded. From my experience, you don’t have to be “somebody” to enjoy life; you do so even after being “anybody”. One thing I regret for myself is the career path I chose without considering my options. I am happy where I am, but how do I know that I would not have been a better teacher or journalist or lawyer. When I saw grad students who were in materials field because that’s what they always wanted to do, I question myself often; what was it that I always wanted to do? I am afraid my answer doesn’t match what I am today. Again, all this freedom & individuality can be exploited & kids can get into drugs & liquor & things of this nature that I am not aware of. I also take the safer path; you can get into this no matter where you are, but the probability is higher in US. These days I have started thinking globally, I mean any place is after all just a flight’s distance away.
That was my side of the story, whenever people say they want to move to India, they give reasons like our family values, morals, social manners, education system & “sanskriti”. At times I fail to understand these factors. I have seen Americans who have as good or better family values than us, morals, work ethics etc etc. Italians, Chinese, Japanese, have family life & good morals. I just read that in Noida, kids were robbed of their kidneys & killed. http://www.shekharkapur.com/blog/archives/2007/01/a_mothers_lette.htm#more What sanskriti or morals do we talk of? I don’t want to leave an impression that I am not patriotic, yes I am, I am proud of my country, I am proud of the qualities I have just because I am an Indian, & also the family structure. But any Indian is as special as any Italian or Venezuelan, they all have rich traditions, values & more so, very similar to ours. Indians who feel like they should move back home, may do so & those who think they should stay here for good should stay back; whatever suits you & your situation. I am not sure what I am going to do. However, let’s ask ourselves a question, who are we to judge everybody else’s way of life? We always complain of Americans racially discriminating against us, what better do we do?

West coast trip

In 2006 we accomplished the most awaited (by me) west coast trip. Almost 5 years in US & I have seen pretty much all of the east coast & Midwest, but hadn’t been at all on the west coast except for the rainy Seattle. I always thought; all the places are same in US with the exceptions of the terrain, accent & attitude. I mean no matter where you go, everybody still eats in Taco Bell or buys stuff from Kroger. It’s not like India where every place has some specialty of its own. However, the terrain on the west coast was entirely different than what I was used to in the Midwest or south.

SF day 1&2: K welcomed us & took us around SF. SF came across as a very lively place with a flare of its own. Entire downtown boasting of the IT companies, Pacific & the Golden Gate; not to forget the crooked street. It’s quite a cliché though, but we had to take our pictures there as every other desi. Pacific beautifies this place evidently. Napa valley was OK, I thought it was overrated, S found it “worth once a visit” for the kind of wine lover that he is.

Vegas/Grand Canyon day 3, 4 & 4.5: Whatever happens in Vegas actually deserves to stay in Vegas! Whoever came up with the idea of building a sin city right in the middle of a desert was quite innovative; for the kind of employment it has generated around Nevada. Yeah right, now Vegas actually owes us $500! However, the hordes of people I guess make it difficult for the officials to maintain the decorum. Terrain wise, I thought it was wonderful, huge cactuses & mountains, had never seen anything like this! GC is truly a marvel; although it was very chilly.

LA day 5,6 & 7: Fun in LA actually started by celebrating R’s b’day. There is one thing I like the most (among others) about S’s friends; absolutely no hang-ups group! The day started with us strolling across the Hollywood walk of fame; which again I was expecting to be a lot more glamorous than what it turned out. Nobody was interested in going to actual Hollywood strip or Disney so instead we ended up strolling on Rhodeo drive in the Beverly Hills area. Looked forward to spot some celebrities; but I guess they were unfortunate to miss us! Although we all can claim to have spotted Jackie Chan’s dad & Lucy Liu’s mom (some random Chinese people walking around). Malibu visit was worth every minute that we drove along; awesome beaches boasting of sunlight 12 months a year. No doubt all the celebs die to live in Malibu. The wonderful day ended with S’s b’day bash.

California stood up to it’s expectations!