Evidently DC’s snowstorm has shut down Federal govt. It is a good thing that they announce these kind of things on TV. I, for one, did not even realize that the Federal govt was open for business these days 🙂

It is 27 degrees in Milton. With wind chill 19 degrees. The question still remains – 3 layers of clothes or 4 for the Sunday morning run? At this point, I am painfully reminded of an old Ian McEwan quote –
“What can it be about low temperatures
that sharpens the edges of objects?” 🙂

Did you know “stifle” is an anagram of itself?
How many of you are wondering – “What is the big deal? Every word is an anagram of itself”?
Think again….

So here we were – Sunjay Talele and myself walking down the street from one meeting to another in downtown San Francisco… and then we come across this 24 hour fitness place with glass panels. And inside were a gazillion women doing what I can only guess what Zumba looks like. As we were marveling at those womenfolk dancing at lunch hour, we noticed that the Zumba teacher was a very ebullient man!! From first looks we would not have blamed you for thinking that he might have borrowed the clothes he was wearing from one of his students 🙂 Only in San Francisco!!!

Couple of days back, I called up my mom – like I do every single morning. The mood at home – specially mom and my sister – was despondent, to say the least. My mom jumped straight from “How are you?” to lamenting that my niece lost one mark (got 99 out of 100) in her Computer test by messing up one question.

I know how hyper-competitive India is at school level – but I still tried to reason with my mom. I asked her how come nobody is celebrating the 99 questions my niece did get right. Why all the overwhelming attention to one single question she missed?

Trying to use reason with my mom in this context is like trying to explain calculus to a new born. When I pointed out that she is only 10 and that she can’t possibly know everything that is required of her, my mom’s response was – “So what? Which 10 year old does not know that the national game of India is football (soccer as we call here) and not cricket”. Then she commented on the effect of TV and constant cricket and how that is corrupting students.

But something else struck me. I asked her if it was a Computer test, why were they asking about national game of India? What had that got to do with Computers? My mom summarily dismissed this line of questioning and said for Computer Programming, you have to answer all these questions. I think, she forgets at times that I did Computer Science from IIT. 🙂 She also said that if I had the attitude that I have now when I was studying, I would have never made anything out of my life 🙂 By this time, my sister also came onboard and started talking about why these are standard questions for all Computer tests.

So, finally, I pulled up my last trump card. I asked them why did they feel that the niece should have written football (soccer) instead of cricket. I gently pointed them to the fact that (field) hockey has been the national game for India for a very long time.

Now that did trigger some memory cells in their minds. For the next three minutes I held the phone to my ear on this side and on the other side I could hear all sorts of discussions going on as confusion reigned supreme 🙂 Finally, my mom ended the call abruptly saying “We’ll talk later”. I am sure they were looking up all sorts of reference books 🙂

I did get a call from my niece that evening suggesting I am the best person in the whole wide world 🙂 🙂 Ah! All’s well that ends well 🙂

Feb 14th is Valentine’s day. No doubt you know that. But if you are not from India, you may not know that Nov 14th is celebrated as Children’s Day in India. This is to celebrate India’s first prime minister Nehru’s birthday who was a great friend of children.
The discerning amongst you no doubt have realized that there is exactly 9 months between Valentine’s Day and Children’s Day in India! 🙂

I actually saw this on Facebook a few days back… I cannot locate it anymore (one of those friend-likes-funny-group posts). So I recreated the cartoon myself – but the credit goes to somebody else who I do not know!

That said, here is to all my Detroit friends!!!

“Today Russia announced plans to send a probe to the moon by the year 2015. Russian scientists say they’re excited to see what they could discover on the moon’s surface. I’ll tell you what they’re going to discover – an American flag!” –Craig Ferguson

Now this is a glass half full 🙂

A few more details are trickling in… (you have to read the previous post to get the context).

After finishing up my office work, I called India back to get more details of the incident. Funnily enough, nobody admitted that they were the first to suggest it might be a bomb. When I talked to my dad upstairs, he said it was my sister’s idea. When I talked to my sister downstairs, she suggested it was the niece who got afraid it might be a bomb!!! My mom claims that right from the beginning, she had a hunch that it might be a nice package from me! And of course, the niece claims she knew all along it had to be books!!! 🙂

Everybody seemed to remember that all the neighbors agreed that those burglars whose attempt to rob was thwarted a few days back must have been so enraged that they sent a bomb!!

An outstanding moment occurred  when the neighbors came. Picture this – there is a small brown packet in the middle of the parking lot in the ground floor. And a bunch of neighbors and my parents, sister et al. are circling it from a safe distance completely confused what to make of it. At that time of “You first” mentality, one brave gentleman stepped forward a little and was able to decipher some letters on the package from that distance. Petrified, he yelled “It says, HANDLE WITH CARE”. Everybody simultaneously jumped back three feet and a half convinced that their worst fears had come true!!! For, as you undoubtedly know, terrorists always take care to warn you to handle with care 🙂 🙂

At the end, I asked them – So, all of you and your neighbors and the police were at the police station with the package? And who was going to fend off the burglars that had attempted a robbery a few days back if they came during that time?

There was pin drop silence on the other side. I kept the phone down 🙂