You know you are in Madison, when...

1) Every 'Thank you' is responded with a "You Betcha!!"
2) Bicyclists & Deers fly past you from all directions with no respect towards motorists. If you are not careful, one of them might end up under your vehicle.
3) Every second conversation is about the 'Badgers' and every third is about the 'Packers'.
4) The city is broadly divided into East side and West side. I've yet to come across someone pointing toward the north or the south of the city.
5) The West side mall is conquered and ruled by soccer moms and the East side mall is occupied by the teenage army.

Chicago

Chicago

Chicago has been my home away from home for the past 4 3/4 years and I've enjoyed the city so much. Having lived in the infamous 'South side' during my grad school years and later moving to downtown Chicago, I've experienced the contrast the city has to offer in terms of society and lives of people in these two vastly different parts of the city. With its diverse mix of people, the city is a true cultural melting pot. Although the harsh winters, with their 'lake effect' snows made me wince and moan and bitch about the city, the warm, and beautiful summers made me fall right back in love with it. Summers in Chicago is something to be experienced. The lake, the beach, and the buzz of the people all around just pumps in a great amount of energy into you. A very small part of my memories from the windy city has been put up in the mosaic.

The time has now come for me to move away from this wonderful city. A new and exciting career opportunity has brought me to the quaint little town of Madison,WI. The feeling is very mixed. I'm excited about a new career opportunity but at the same time I know I'm going to miss the good times I had in Chicago. However, the great thing about this is the fact that Chicago is not very far away from here. I hope Madison brings me the same excitement as did Chicago. It is now my new home.

Madison by Night

Desi Rap

My initial reaction to this video was uncontrolled laughter!! To see a bunch of 'Desis' spitting out gangsta rap, wearing XXXXL clothes big enough to fit two people, and using gangsta names like 'Lock up Guna' is hilarious. This right here is wonderful material for some stand-up comedy. Russel Peters will be happy to watch this video. But after carefully reviewing it a couple more times ( the song is catchy...com'n) I was amazed by the talent these guys have. Rapping is an art and not everybody can do it (atleast not in Tamil!!...or wait!! its easy to rap in Tamil..its such a mouthful!!). I love the fast flow of words and the clever use of slang to compose a rhyme. Although the video is very armature, I loved the song.

Respectz Yo!! :)

Side Effects

Recently saw this commercial on TV for a drug called 'Requip' to treat 'Restless Leg Syndrome'. Remember how the announcer guy at the end of the commercial, blurts out a list of side effects that might accompany the drug, in a funny, high tempo voice? Thats my favorite part.
Most drugs have fairly common side effects like nausea, dizziness, vomiting, and things like that. Take a look at the list of side effects for this drug listed on their website.

• Most people who take Requip tolerate it well. The most commonly reported side effects in people taking Requip for RLS are nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and drowsiness or sleepiness. You should be careful until you know if Requip affects your ability to remain alert while doing normal daily activities, and you should watch for the development of significant daytime sleepiness or episodes of falling asleep. It is possible that you could fall asleep while doing normal activities such as driving a car, doing physical tasks, or using hazardous machinery while taking Requip. Your chances of falling asleep while doing normal activities while taking Requip are greater if you are taking other medicines that cause drowsiness.
• When you start taking Requip or when you increase your dose, you may feel dizzy, nauseated, sweaty or faint, when first standing up from sitting or lying down. Therefore, do not stand up quickly after sitting or lying down, particularly if you have been sitting or lying down for a long period of time. Take a minute sitting on the edge of the bed or chair before you get up.
• Some patients taking ropinirole have shown urges to behave in a way unusual for them. Examples of this are an unusual urge to gamble or increased sexual urges and/or behaviors. If you or your family notices that you are developing any unusual behaviors, talk to your doctor.
• Hallucinations (unreal sounds, visions, or sensations) have been reported in patients taking Requip. These were uncommon in patients taking Requip for RLS. The risk is greater in patients with Parkinson's disease who are elderly, taking Requip with L-dopa, or taking higher doses of Requip than recommended for RLS.

Hmmm... gambling?? sex?? halucinations??.....are you sure this is a "drug to treat Restless Leg Syndrome"??

Mysore

Its always so nice and pleasurable to visit good old(and slow) Mysore. By slow I mean really slow. It takes ages before anything new ever happens here. I'm constantly amazed by the slow pace and the calmness of the city given its close proximity to the burgeoning and rapid paced Bangalore. Although you can see some new 'coffee days' and couple of other new buildings here and there, the contrast between the two cities which are almost like twins, is deep and wide......... which is a good thing after all. Mysore provides one of the most relaxing atmospheres.
During my trip to India this December, I spent two days in Mysore (like I always do). These were the two most relaxing days of the trip. You can just kick back,relax and laze around the whole day without a care in the world. The people are so warm and gentle, the neighbourhood is calm and quiet and the traffic is not at all an issue :). Throw in a couple of palaces, couple of old temples, a zoo, some good food joints, a pleasant weather and you have the perfect place to relax. Talking about food, 'Hotel Mylari' in the Nazarbad area serves some of the most delicious dosas. Unfortunatley Dosas are available only in the 'mornings' (an unfairly defined term. No dosas after 10 a.m). As you order your favourite dosa and start enthusiastically gobbling it, the waiter comes up and refills your plate with more dosas. Before you go "stop pampering me mom', you realise its the waiter and not your mom standing by your side with dosas and a bucket of chutney. Its just like home, only you pay for your food. An excellent filter coffee after the Dosa makes you forget you had to sacrifice the morning sleep :).
Some pictures from the old city.











'Yummy Maddur Vade'










'Wheat fields on the way to Mysore'











'The Famous Mylari Hotel in Nazarbad, Mysore'














' Heavenly Dosas at the Mylari Hotel, served only in the mornings'

flavour of the month

Music is the one of those things in my life which I cannot live without and I constantly need something new to keep me going. That's been my task this past weekend. Trying to find some new music for the week/month/year/life . Typical life span of any new music ranges between a couple of days to a couple of weeks in my play-list. Although, I must admit some songs just stay fresh forever (like 'Marooned'....it surely must be Gilmour's 'Magnum Opus').
Being mostly a classic rock guy, I've lately been hooked on to lounge. Here's some of the songs that survived the many try-outs and made it into my 'flavour of the month' play-list.

Song: Sitar Gaze - Niladri Kumar
Album : Red Earth - India On My Mind
Short review: Most songs in this album are good, But 'Sitar Gaze' is clearly the best of them and deserves to be on everybody's play-lists. The mellow beginning and the sitar riffs certainly touches ones' emotions. Niladri Kumar is a very talented musician. Also worth mentioning is Nladri's rendition of Jana Gana Mana in A R Rahman's version of the national anthem.

Song: Drive
Artist : Karsh Kale
Album : Karsh Kale - Broken English
Short review: Karsh Kale is one highly talented artist. The sitar in this piece is played by Niladri and is very well mixed by Karsh. Very melodic and soothing , is a 'must listen' on a long drive!!

Song: All Bliss - John Wubbenhorst
Album : Incredible India
Short review: 'All Bliss' another one of those melodic pieces on sitar. Played by John Wubbenhorst, it proves, what a magnificent instrument, 'The Sitar' really is. The album has several good songs but only 'All Bliss' gets the special mention.

Song: L'amour
Album : Dubai Chill Lounge Vol 2
Short review: Just fell in love with the French in the song. Decent lounge music. Made it to the play-list because of the French :)

Song: Mumtaz
Album : Bombay Dub Orchestra - Vol 1
Short review: Beautiflul, melodic piece of lounge music. The flute just soothes your mind. Once again most songs in the album are good.

All songs are available on www.musicindiaonline.com for anybody's listening pleasure.

emissions

Woo Hoo!! I passed my emissions test today.
I have spent a lot of freakin money on fixing my car this week. After having been kicked around by the auto shops, I ended up visiting the dealership to find a fix for my car. Auto dealerships are the worst of the lot. As soon as you step inside you can be sure of parting away with atleast a week's worth of money.The service guy greets you with a certain 'what-a-poor-bastard' kind of smile and you greet him back with an "Oh-shit!!" kind of smile. Its a perfect place to discover how notorious the service industry in the US is. All my car needed was a new canister (part of the exhaust system which is made of a thin piece of sheet metal) and some cleaning of a blocked valve. And it cost me 685 friggin dollars!!!!
I could have actually done away without the new canister, but I had received a threatening notice several days ago from the DMV informing of my driver's license suspension if I did not get my emissions done in time. WTF!!!
Having already had many encounters with the cops (darn luck!!), didn't want to take any more chances. So today I have finally got my car fixed and the emissions done!!! I wanted to treat myself for this wonderful achievement but remembered I had a big crater in my bank account. Crap!!!

'HOME is where the heart is'

After 3 long years in the USA , I finally decided to take off for a month long vacation to 'namma Bengalooru' this December.It was a super relaxing trip and was indeed a well deserved break. There is nothing that can rejuvenate a spirit like visiting your home. After all 'HOME is where the heart is'!!

I had waited a long time to see my family and friends and my city and was super excited to meet them all. However this wait seemed to stretch longer and longer as I flew our 'warm and motherly' Air India (reminds me of a pun my sister once told me: warm because the A/Cs don't work and motherly because all the air hostesses remind you of your mother). I had heard horrid stories from friends about their flying experiences in Air India. But now I had the chance to experience it myself and I did! Firstly the flight from Chicago was delayed 'supposedly' due to the cold weather which didn't seem to affect any of the 100's of other air crafts taking off that night from O'Hare. It was just poor planning and irresponsibility by the AI management. Its amazing how the staff come up with such lame excuses knowing that not one soul on the aircraft would buy such an explanation. This joke seemed to have ended until we landed in Mumbai where there was further delay. This time it was because we were waiting for other transit passengers to arrive from other air crafts and board ours. And the joke was that the other air crafts hadn't even landed !! And we were made to wait inside the aircraft with no A/C and only an hour away from home which was so frustrating and resulted in my decision to not fly Air India ever again. Anyway, all this frustration flew right out of the window as soon as I landed in namma Bengalooru and saw my parents after 3 years.

Bangalore has changed tremendously and at an insanly rapid pace. Namma Bengalooru doesn't seem much like 'namdu', if you have missed all that's happened to the city in the past 3-4 years. What was once a relatively calm, green and peaceful Bangalore is now a bustling, polluted and loud metropolis. Apartments are springing up on every corner of the street like hair on a petrified cat, real estate prices have skyrocketed in only 3 years and traffic!....well, that's for another post on another day! And I can barely recognise Airport road...All this can be a little over-whelming if you have been away from Bangalore for three years as I found out!!
Well...no matter how much I bitch about the current state of Bangalore, its still namma Bengalooru and I'll always love it. Even with the aforementioned by-products of a booming economy, the people are still the same; warm, cheerful and with a 'swalpa adjust madi' attitude. You cannot help but feel the positive energy that is radiating form this place. I have made a promise to myself to visit Bangalore more often than I did before, for, the next time I see it, It may not be 'namdu' anymore !