the comp shut down
the TV remote packed;
the large glass windows closed
the bedroom aircon switched on;
the empty bottles kept in a neat row
beneath the cleaned sink;
the half empty pack of biscuits
carefully wrapped and kept for sunday;
the lights switched off
the bedsheet smoothened ;
the alarm set in the cell phone
the jogging reminder in the morning;
Another saturday night draws to an end
amidst all this routine;
sometimes I wonder whether I am taking refuge
behind the sheer predictability of it all;
But I don't linger over the thought
and quickly go to sleep;
For there is always the next day
and the sunday movie to watch;
and the evening dinner to arrange for
and the stray emails to catch!
life must go on....each day a task
what about Carpe Diem!!!
Thanks, but I will pass.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Wires, modems & indicators: A saturday morning well spent
I have never been very comfortable around gadgets...I mean I use them all the time but I have been never been one of those people who would rush in whenever there was a electrical problem and say," move aside..move aside...let me have a look at it!!"It has always been my younger brother's role...whether it is replacing the fuse at home or repairing the odd electrical gadgets...good that he finally has become an Engineer but still ironic given that I ended up working for a "technology" firm.
I had to arrange for a new cable and internet connection in my apartment since I just moved into my own apartment in Singapore. So, there I was, at the nearest Star Hub shop, pissed after having a disastrous dinner experiment with a plate of Biriyani at a nearby Hawker's corner, to get my new connection. The shop guy took a long time to clear up all the paper-work (with me standing there like the patient buddha smiling at him...being an Indian helps in unexpected ways at unexpected moments) and finally gave me a choice....do I want a technician sent to my house to install the goodies or would I prefer installing the goodies myself? I stared at him for a moment and then said, "I will do it myself". On my way back, I was wondering, why would I say that!!! Was it the prospect of saving s$32 in installation charges or the prospect of a long saturday with no real plans or just the (cheap) thrill of playing with 300 dollars worth of gadgets. Whatever!!!
So, I woke up on Sat'day morn...no prospect of jogging (raining like hell with a sky infested with clouds)....bad start!!...and then I noticed the two green bags with the goodies from Star Hub....suddenly I was back in business...I opened the packets to take a look at the inventory of the goodies available…took a fleeting look at the thick User manual so kindly provided by the service provider (they probably intended it to scare me into calling a technician) and then just started assembling the goodies together…..yeah, ok, it took me two hours but when I finally switched on the Tv and could see the so familiar face of Al Pacino on HBO…the sheer thrill of having done something new, something which was even probably a fear till then made the day…a Saturday morning well spent…
I had to arrange for a new cable and internet connection in my apartment since I just moved into my own apartment in Singapore. So, there I was, at the nearest Star Hub shop, pissed after having a disastrous dinner experiment with a plate of Biriyani at a nearby Hawker's corner, to get my new connection. The shop guy took a long time to clear up all the paper-work (with me standing there like the patient buddha smiling at him...being an Indian helps in unexpected ways at unexpected moments) and finally gave me a choice....do I want a technician sent to my house to install the goodies or would I prefer installing the goodies myself? I stared at him for a moment and then said, "I will do it myself". On my way back, I was wondering, why would I say that!!! Was it the prospect of saving s$32 in installation charges or the prospect of a long saturday with no real plans or just the (cheap) thrill of playing with 300 dollars worth of gadgets. Whatever!!!
So, I woke up on Sat'day morn...no prospect of jogging (raining like hell with a sky infested with clouds)....bad start!!...and then I noticed the two green bags with the goodies from Star Hub....suddenly I was back in business...I opened the packets to take a look at the inventory of the goodies available…took a fleeting look at the thick User manual so kindly provided by the service provider (they probably intended it to scare me into calling a technician) and then just started assembling the goodies together…..yeah, ok, it took me two hours but when I finally switched on the Tv and could see the so familiar face of Al Pacino on HBO…the sheer thrill of having done something new, something which was even probably a fear till then made the day…a Saturday morning well spent…
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Hondas in Vietnam
I just finished a 3 day Vietnam trip. It was the first time I had visited Vietnam but somehow the whole place just gave a sense of being there before. Landed at the HCMC Airport and the first thing we noticed were the long queues in the Immigration. These long queues somehow immediately remind me of home, of Indian airports and irritating officials. However, we passed through the immigration without a hitch, booked a taxi at the Airport counter and finally landed in a car which looked very similar to a sumo and had a very weak Air-conditioning.
The first thing I noticed while on the journey to the hotel was the huge number of motor bikes. The roads were covered with Motor bikes almost like flies on a rotten fruit. There are lots of motor bikes in India but the density here was amazing. Later, I was told by a local of the place that there are almost 5 million motor bikes in HCMC – a city of around 8 million people!!! They are called by the generic name “Honda” – so even a Suzuki bike will be a Honda. When we asked him the reason for there being so many of them, he gave an interesting analogy. Apparently, Vietnam opened its economy in 1995 and the economy has seen massive growth since them. The population of HCMC has grown almost 3 times since then because of migration of people in the city to find jobs and participate in the growth story. But the infrastructure has not kept pace with the growth in population and business. He compared HCMC to a child who has grown up to be teenager but is still wearing the cloths he was wearing 10 years back. Amidst this crumbling infrastructure, these bikes are the quickest means of transportation for the average city worker, ensuring that he is able to reach work in time and is able to take his family around in the weekend. An interesting thing to see was that there were almost as many women driving these Hondas as men. In a country which is probably as male dominated as some of the other ones, the economic boom has probably finally created the opportunity to break free which they were waiting for.
More on Vietnam later.
The first thing I noticed while on the journey to the hotel was the huge number of motor bikes. The roads were covered with Motor bikes almost like flies on a rotten fruit. There are lots of motor bikes in India but the density here was amazing. Later, I was told by a local of the place that there are almost 5 million motor bikes in HCMC – a city of around 8 million people!!! They are called by the generic name “Honda” – so even a Suzuki bike will be a Honda. When we asked him the reason for there being so many of them, he gave an interesting analogy. Apparently, Vietnam opened its economy in 1995 and the economy has seen massive growth since them. The population of HCMC has grown almost 3 times since then because of migration of people in the city to find jobs and participate in the growth story. But the infrastructure has not kept pace with the growth in population and business. He compared HCMC to a child who has grown up to be teenager but is still wearing the cloths he was wearing 10 years back. Amidst this crumbling infrastructure, these bikes are the quickest means of transportation for the average city worker, ensuring that he is able to reach work in time and is able to take his family around in the weekend. An interesting thing to see was that there were almost as many women driving these Hondas as men. In a country which is probably as male dominated as some of the other ones, the economic boom has probably finally created the opportunity to break free which they were waiting for.
More on Vietnam later.
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