Of Korean Food & American Pop Culture

I'm not nearly there but I've definitely gotten better. At eating food with chopsticks, that is. Thanks to the delicious Korean food at my company cafeteria. I love the spicy pork and the chicken and the Bi Bim Bap. The veggies aren't too bad either and along with the meat are the easy part. I've learnt the technique to pick them up and eat without looking like a retard. But I seriously think that it's the clumped up nature of it that makes it possible to even try to eat rice with chopsticks. I still take a fork though. To finish it up. Because the hardest part is when you literally have grains of rice left. I use them more when I go alone for lunch (not because I'm not popular, though). Just feels easier trying out slightly different holding techniques.

Enough about food. Now for the second part of the post title.

I've always considered my knowledge of pop culture above average. Of late it has risen drastically owing to the new fall season premiers on NBC, FOX, ABC & CBS and the fact that I have started following the Dallas Cowboys. Yes, I admit it. I love coming home from work and watching everything from Parks & Recreation to Sing Off (if you like music you should watch it because it's the most unique show out there and the judges actually make sense and talk about music rather than other stuff) to X-Factor to Prime Suspect to Modern Family on TV. And if I'm not feeling particularly sleepy I also catch parts of Jimmy Fallon and Craig Fergusson before going to sleep. Fallon is way better by the way.

Point is, since the days of bit torrent at IIT, I've considered myself pretty knowledgeable about all this - music, movies, TV shows (the core components of pop culture - according to me). It took some time getting up to date with the Rock n Roll stuff of the 60s onwards but I'm satisfied with the progress I've made. 

On the other hand, during the three years of my life at Bangalore, I got up to speed with the Indian pop culture too. Not that I was far behind. But with uninhibited access to internet and TV and room mates who were just as enthusiastic, we made sure everything from MTV Roadies and Splitsvilla to Himmesh Reshammiya and Indian Idol was consumed. And yes, there was Times Of India - the ultimate entertainment piece. No, I'm not just talking about Bangalore Times (insert any city name that had its own version) here. Read aloud sessions from ToI were one of the most fun we had at times. Oh, how I miss those!

Anyway, let's get to the crux of the matter here. For the first time today, I actually listened to the desi Radio station in Dallas today. 104.9. And the reason was that instead of talking about how to save taxes and the new jewelry store in Plano, they were actually playing some good new music. Some of it was apparently from Rehman. And I had absolutely no clue about any of the songs. That's when it hit me. I don't follow the IPL anymore. I had little interest in politics and have very less idea about that now. I might have watched two Indian movies in the last one year or so. And I'm no longer on top of the one thing which I used to be the first to find out - new Bollywood music which is good. I was usually the one forwarding downloaded mp3s to my friends. So the gain in the US pop culture knowledge has come with a price. Not that I'm surprised. I think in my case, I have chosen this and if and when I go back to India, it will change. I don't like being at one place and following the happenings of some place else. Wait, I sort of did that with American pop culture when I was in India. But US is the center of the world, right ? And those sitcoms (& LOST) were good!

Funny story: Somebody at work was talking about the Republican candidates and inevitably Rick Perry came up. I was not part of the conversation but happened to overhear it. I immediately said something on the lines of 'Oh, he was a front runner but kind of shot himself in the foot in the Presidential Debates' and went back to checking engadget.com on my computer. The girl asked the guy 'What did Perry do?'. And the guy who is born and raised in Texas and now works in Texas pointed to me and said, 'You seem to be more aware of this than me' And no, he was not being sarcastic. It's another story that my knowledge is courtesy Jon Stewart and Jimmy Fallon.

Almost time for Jay Leno.

A Month To Go

At lunch today, a fellow intern said -"I'm ready to go back to school". No, she's not done with her project and I don't think she hates her work. And if I remember correctly, over the last week or so, I've seen the stray Facebook update from a couple of my Darden friends saying the same thing.  It got me thinking. Am I ready to go back to school? Like most things, I don't know.

I miss C'ville. I miss the energy and the familiarity. And a host of other things. But that is for another post. Next year, same time, maybe. 

At the same time, the summer has been an interesting experience so far. A self discovery of sorts. A perfect transition, as far as I can think of - from the no business, all coding software engineer to this mixed bag of technology trends, competitive analysis, consumer habits and the art of converting bullet points to fancy looking shapes which provide second order insights.

Getting to talk to heads of various divisions has been great. Product Management, Business Planning, Content & Services, Product Marketing. They mean more than just titles now. Also, the 'real world' aspect is becoming very clear. With everybody from the OEMs and the Carriers to the Content Generators and the App Developers trying to take a share of the same pie, so often, it's the framing, the positioning, the negotiations and the compromises which see a business proposal through. There is absolutely no dearth of innovation or crazy new ideas in this space. But not every idea is making a million dollars. Not every app is getting a million downloads. 

But enough of trying to sound intelligent and MBA student like. Dallas is like an oven now. And somehow, more than the temperature, it's just the brightness of the sun which fries my brains. There are no evenings. I mean when the sun sets at 9:00 PM, where do you squeeze in the evening?
More alone time has meant longer and more frequent emails to some of my friends. Then, apart from the Despicable Me's and the Inceptions, I've managed to watch an eclectic range of movies. The Visitor, Religulous, The Big Lebowski, Apocalypse Now (I also read Heart of Darkness after it which I thought was too wordy to enjoy or understand in one read).

Exploring good places to drink beer has been fun. And it's given me the opportunity to hang out with my friend from IIT. It's funny how having lead very different lives since our college days and pursuing very different careers, we still have so much to talk about. Some of it revolves round the very differences and trying to understand the other's perspective. Then there's recounting hostel days and people. A good part of it is about our current state of being - internship, bosses, decisions and  the changes ahead. And lastly, there's music and a bit of physics thrown in. I guess the alcohol helps a lot too. Particularly memorable was last weekend's chance visit to 'Bavarian Grill' - a family owned German restaurant in Plano. I had some of the most amazing tasting beer ever. So smooth. There was an old man playing the accordion close to us. Our waitress was super helpful in deciphering the German menu for us and suggesting beers based on what we liked. Even my 'not too hoppy, wheat, kinda light - yes, I like Blue Moon' was enough for her to suggest me a couple. Both of them were fantastic.

And lastly, I read this book. Loved it.

Updates From Dallas

It's my first time living alone. I've always had roommates before this. At undergrad, there were a bunch of us in the hostel (or dorm, as it is called here). After the first two years, we had single occupancy rooms but that hardly meant anything. Most of us would keep our doors open throughout the day and people would be shouting out and walking into each other's room every now and then. Then Bangalore happened and I was lucky enough to find three friends from college to lodge with. It became a mini hostel and anyone that we knew, who came to Bangalore, would stay with us. In fact, throughout the first year there were only a couple of months when only the four of us were staying in the house! Charlottesville hasn't been very different. A roommate, the occasional birthday celebration and the impromptu get together for beer, meant that my habit of having quite a few people to talk to, to eat dinner with or just to go out for a drink on a day to day basis, stayed.

Not anymore. And 3 weeks into this, I have mixed feelings. I'm leading a pretty disciplined life. Office, home, go out for a jog at times, watch football highlights while having dinner, read a book or surf the net and go to sleep. And I can't say that I'm bored or particularly feeling the need of having people to shout out about a FaceBook status message, a news item or some stupid joke. It's a little weird. For the first week, I would go to sleep really early for lack of anything else to do. So then I started reading and have managed to finish my first book in a year. About A Boy by Nick Hornby. Quite liked it.

Weekends are fun. Coincidentally, one of my very close friends from undergrad is also interning at Dallas. We hang out on weekends. I talk about my MBA experience and he updates me on the trials and tribulations of a PhD student.

Work's picking up. It has been a good learning experience so far. Just getting up to date with what's happening in the wireless industry and getting a sense of current and future trends. My day typically begins with going through endgadget, gizmodo and similar websites to keep up to date with the iPhones, the Droids and the EVOs. Have been able to see and play around with a few. And I must say, there's a new found appreciation for non iPhone (read Android) devices. No, I'm not switching anytime soon but it's a really fascinating and continuously evolving space. There are an insane number of things that are being done by the startups and app developers - from location based services to media streaming to content aggregation to social networking. Reading about them in itself has been an eye opener for me because prior to coming here, I  thought that I had a fair idea of what was happening in the Smartphone world. Turns out, I knew very little!

Haven't really explored Dallas much apart from a few bars and pubs. Weekends are pretty much spent watching the World Cup. Praying for an Argentina - Ghana final which Argentina wins 3-2 in Extra Time. Is it asking for too much ? 

winding up - 4 (a hattrick of binge drinking)

The farewell went on for 3 nights.

On Wednesday, Rohan called up and I ended up at Legends of Rock (LoR). Two people, who were one of the first new friends I had made after coming to this city, had also come. The beer bomb came in and the music was softer than Heavy Metal. High on beer and a couple of large Smirnoffs, I was sitting behind Naman when the car hit us. I held my breath as he somehow managed to steer the shaking Bullet across the road and bring it to a halt. The leg guard had loosened and I felt a slight sting on my right foot but apart from that, everything was in one piece. For some reason in my mind I was singing Sing us a song, you're the pianoman....

Maybe alcohol does make you more alert.

Or maybe not.

Thursday and it was my treat to the office dudes. Along with another B-School-bound colleague. LoR it was again, owing to its proximity to Sidharth's, Ranchu's and my house. This time I didnt waste time on Kingfisher. So after tasting all the Belgian beers that they had (which were very different), we moved on to whiskey and vodka. I got really sloshed after drinking what I guess would be close to 10 pegs. Couple that with the occasional puff (yes, I do smoke a bit when I really want to get high!) and boy was I talking. In fact, everybody was talking. I thanked Pradeep for being the 'best team lead ever' and hugged Sidharth for making it such a memorable US trip. I finally told Prashant how uneasy I felt because of his calling me 'Sir' even though we were the same age. Oh, everybody was way too drunk. Pradeep made me promise him that I would come over to Minneapolis whenever he was there next. Let's see.

I sat beside Pradeep as we went to MG Road to look for more booze once LoR turned off the music and kicked us out at 11:30. The police caught us headed in the wrong direction in a One-Way. The alcohol meter went berserk as Pradeep inhaled and I had to cough up a thousand bucks. Back at Ranchu's place, I realized that I was drunk as dead. He laid the bed, I gulped down some tap water (he had run out of drinking water) and collapsed.

On Friday Shravan decided that I needed a farewell. And a unique one at that. The venue was Kyra and the band was Swarathma. We felt a little out of place in the beginning amongst the more elite looking crowd but as the drinks started to take their effect and the band started to up the tempo, we found ourselves enjoying. Quite boisterously at that. Anpadh was the loudest one amonst us. The bass player, Jishnu with his typical UP/Bihari accent provided the additional spark as people started turning around and looking at the 5 of us shouting at the top of our voice, clapping continuously to the rhythm and even trying to voice the lyrics as good as drunk 27 year olds could.

By the time it ended, we had done enough of shouting to make the percussionist come up to us and say, 'Thanks guys. You were louder than us!'. We also got hold of Jishnu and came to know that he was part of Bodhitree of GMD and Sabka Katega fame. A few ka bhaiya, kaisan ba later, we decided to head to Take 5. It was after all, only 10:30 and we needed to get high-er.

Jason Mraz's I'm Yours greeted us at Take 5. Rohan and I had reached earlier so we ordered drinks for everybody else before the bar closed. 4 large 100 Pipers and 1 large Absolut. Rohan had gone crazy. I've never seen him gulp down neat whiskey at such pace. He didn't even bother about putting a few ice cubes. Upon my request, John Mayer's Say started playing and we ordered a repeat of the drinks. As is the norm, people got a little senti and started talking about the days gone by and the things we will miss. In spite of all the alcohol and all the music, I knew that I was leaving behind the best place I've lived in and a wonderful bunch of guys. People with whom there are no inhibitions. With whom you never have to wonder if you have been misunderstood or taken out of context. Who have the same sense of humour as you and a similar taste in rock n roll. And even though I am the only vodka drinker, that was hardly a problem ever.

I drove the bike as Rohan clinged on to me. In hindsight, I'm glad that after 20 meters he realized that he was in no state to take us home. I was drunk too. More than ever, I might say. Perhaps that's what got us home. I was too alert!

When everything in life comes with an expiry tag - the last drink, the last get-together, the last concert; my feelings towards each of them tend to be ambivalent at best. To me, it's these moments of delight that shine through when you look back at your life. To use the cliche, you hardly remember the grades you got in college or the projects you worked in your job. And as sure as I am to trade this life for something which would be a different world altogether, I know that a good part of me would be what I was in these last three years. A lot of what I become from hereon, would be thanks to the life I've led here.

To my friends in this city with whom I have shared all the joys and disappointments of my life, till we meet again - cheers and keep the music playing.

winding up - 3 (quitting the only job I have known)

In the end there was no 'This is my last day' mail. The party had already happened the night before. So I completed my formalities, shook hands, asked a couple of my friends to come out with me and have a smoke (no I dont smoke) and left. Life as a software developer was over. And even though I never liked it with my heart, there was a tinge of sadness. You can better your 'bests' but the firsts always stay. I'll remember my first job and the few people who made the transformation from colleagues to friends. They were nice people. Fun to hang out with. Fun to drink with. Be it mango shake or alcohol or tea. From bitching about our manager to discussing xkcd and iPhone apps - they made the stay enjoyable. And there was my friend and my boss, who made it the most awesome 'first US trip' when we were there. 

There would be no more of Eclipse and Java and desktops and servers. There's this thing with closure. With finalities. It makes me uneasy. So no matter how badly I wanted this day to come, when it finally came, it was difficult to let it sink in.

It's funny. There's so much to write about. So much that's floating in my head. Emotions. Feelings. But when I sit down to write, everything goes blank.

So long and thanks for all the bugs.

winding up - 2 (a few things i'll miss)

The morning tea and music. Of late it was mostly Rohan who would pick the songs.

The sudden urge to have a drink (mostly on weeknights) which would mean getting a few cans of Kingfisher Strong from the nearby FoodMall and putting on some rock N roll.

Doing nothing, I mean absolutely nothing, on weekends and discussing how happening our life was.

Discussions with my friends: Why some people earn so much. Times Of India. IPL. Cheergirls. Dada. Random surveys and who does them. Bangalore's screwed up infra. Ajit Agarkar. Stock Markets. xkcd. College....

More discussions (mostly after having a few drinks): Women and their unfathomable ways. How 99% of all music is about relationships (mostly failed?). If only we knew more women. 

Will add more as they come to mind

Another Week Off

Sometime in the beginning of September last year, I had taken a week off from work. To work on my essays. This time around it's to get the paper work done for the admissions and also because I just don't feel like going to office. I'm quite happy with myself. I'm back to planning things. And since I never was a planner of any sorts, it's new and exciting to me. And I'm back to jogging again. Yes, I have that urge every six months or so and then it gradually subsides after a month at the most. 

Today after I came back from my jog, I saw the sky brilliantly coloured by the setting sun. The weather has been like the Bangalore of old since yesterday night and it all added up to bring a smile to my face. Strange, how when things are going well, everything feels all the more beautiful.

Saturday Morning

Classic Rock and Hit Factory are showing on VH1. And they are playing some pretty amazing music. I'm sitting on one chair with my feet on another, writing the first draft of an essay. The smell of aaloo parathe coming from our kitchen makes me more hungry than I actually am. Plans are on to go to Purple Haze in the evening. It's been a while, so let's see. First day of my 'time out ' and already this Saturday feels better.

This Part Of My Life Is...

About giving it all without the fear of losing.

After downing 300ml of Absolut Vodka in a Friday night drinking binge, sleeping for 2 hours, watching a totally atrocious but insanely funny Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay at 6 in the morning in the widest computer screen that I have ever seen, having Idli Vada and filter coffee to get rid of the hangover; I came back home riding my bike in an cold, overcast Bangalore morning. A cup of tea, half an hour of sleep like trance, the house owner's appearance after a hiatus of 4 months and a signature on a Rs 21,000 cheque; I was up and running in no time. Well, not exactly running. More like typing sentences for 'para 5' of my Goals Essay version 1.2. Had to get the crisper, clearer, better sounding version 2.0 ready by the end of the day.

I must have worked for a good 6-7 hours on my application stuff today. A running nose and the gloomy weather didn't offer many better options though. And I had made good progress on the recommendation front on Friday, so decided to keep the tempo going.
I have the basic structure to the all important 'Why MBA' essay more or less ready. More than the basic actually! I would say 60-70% is done. Sentences would have to be edited and transformed. Word repetitions removed and all that 'good writing' skills brought to the table. But I'm not too disappointed with what I have. And I've also sort of done the customization (why this school) part for Kellogg. And yes, I have a killer last line for the Kellogg version of this essay! At least I think so, anyway. I hope the middle - the lead up from my current work to my short term goal and MBA gets more seamless in the days to come. That's one part which still bugs me.

So this makes it the 3rd essay, after the professional and non-professional leadership/significant achievement one that I have sort of taken care of. The background/values/what will you bring to the class essay is still in the random scribbles state but I have a nice 'impact' beginning to it in mind. And it will be a totally unique one. No doubt about that.

By late evening, I had grown tired of thinking about the essays. So I thought I would get down to creating the logins for Tuck, Kellogg and Ross and set the ball rolling for the application process. That took a good 2 hours or so but there was a sense of urgency in doing it which I liked. I hate filling up these data forms by the way. Especially the GPA part.

Exactly 2 months to go before the first of my deadlines. I'm not feeling too bad about this. There's a hell lot to be done actually and I'm planning to take a week off around the end of this month. And for all those who have been issued a warning of getting bombarded with my essay drafts for review, just hold on for a little longer. You'll soon get your chance to comment on, critique and bash my essays.

So far, so good. Hope it gets even better.

On Track

I woke up at 6:00 today. That's like a good 3-4 hours before I usually do. I glanced through the text document which had the questions I wanted to ask him. I didnt want to miss anything.
To my frustration, I found his answering machine at the other end of the line. I shut down the computer lid and went back to sleep. Another great beginning to a week, I thought.

We talked for a little over 40 minutes. Yes, I woke up again at 10, checked my mail and found that he would be free. It was awesome. He spoke passionately about his school. Patiently answered my questions (there were quite a few "That's a great question, Atish" in between too!). He made so much sense and more importantly for me, he said that I made sense.

"All the best with the application process, Atish. Call me up or shoot me a mail whenever you have any questions regarding anything."

The B school students I have been talking to have been very helpful. But this morning's conversation was the best so far. It helped me come out of yesterday night's gloom. I think I'm back on track.

Back. Just For A Day

Its not that my life had become any less interesting than it already was! And it certainly wasnt because I didnt have time. It was more of a conscious, deliberate break. Like when you start having too much of something. Something which you really like. But you realise that the fun has gone out of it and you are doing it more out of habit than anything else.

Come to think of it, its been the dominant theme in my life for the last few weeks. Well, I guess I can extend it to the last couple of months too. Taking a break from some of the regular stuff and trying to start afresh on some other things. And you know what, the change has been invigorating. It's not that I have changed. It's really the little things. You wouldnt even notice perhaps. But to me they sum up to tell a story.

Music. It occurred to me that I had no interest whatsoever in listening to the 15 GB of songs in my laptop. And the Alternative / Indie Rock thing also wasnt like it used to be when it first started with the soundtrack of Scrubs. So I stopped searching for new music, stopped listening to the old stuff and decided to wait. It was good. I needed the break. A few weeks into that, Jango happened. I started off by creating my regular Alternative Rock station and soon got fed up. It was only after some random Eric Clapton (no, not the soft mushy ones!) started playing on my station that I though it might be a good idea to take up Rock History 101 for this summer under the guidance of one Professor Shravan! Thin Lizzy, The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Clapton, The Who and the rest followed and I found myself listening to the best internet radio that I know, all day. The party's still on.

GTalk went. And now, no matter how bored I feel, or how jobless I am; I find stuff to do other than staring at my friends list trying to pick somebody to talk to. Orkut also made its way for B School web sites.

The enthusiasm for the Spanish class has waned but c'mon, how long did you think it would have lasted given the fact that there were no hot girls around! Anyway, the course is nearing the end and I think I've done a decent job of it.

What has been the most surprising and pleasing part is that I've started setting small targets for myself. Weekly. Monthly. Nothing very precise and nothing written down. But in my mind I have a schedule, a plan. Yes, I know it's all due to my 'apping' process. But dont we all need a trigger. It was only when our second geyser conked off that I realised that taking a bath in cold water was more fun! We do need triggers.

Quite a lot of my posts originate when I'm on my bike. And the last month or so hasnt been any different. There was my bike's 10,000 km post, the Raghu Dixit post, the normal ramblings and one on triggers too. There was one on how much of riding a bike or playing a guitar is involuntary rather than a conscious exercise. Then there was the change thing, again. Not a post, but just a few stray thoughts about family, friends, relationships and their dynamics. All from a very personal point of view though. But I didnt feel like writing anything down. And so, all of it stayed put.
And yes there was that amazing evening with Rohan and Francis. From 8 in the evening to 2 at night we sang and played everything from the 'Paaji' song to More Than Words; from One Last Breath to Talking 'bout a Revolution. That guy's such an amazing guitarist and singer. It was tough to figure out if I got high on the beer or on the music.

You know the feeling when after a long time, you meet a friend with whom you were very close. And there isnt any occasion as such. It takes time to get going, right. There are a few awkward moments, pauses in between. But slowly it begins to come together. The connection, returns.
It's kind of the same feeling now. But I think it's only a one off thing for the moment. An exception rather than the rule. You see, even today, there was nothing to write about. But another mindless post wudnt harm anybody.

The February Post

On most weekday mornings (barring the ones in which sleep gets the better of him) he's the teacher. Not in the strictest sense of the word though. More a guide. And the kids love the fact that they can officially bunk classes.

On all weekend mornings, he's the student. The 'keeps quiet', 'doesn't ask too many questions' type. The teacher seldom notices him except when he happens to do things better than what she though he would be capable of. He likes the feel of it.

On a weekday, from afternoon to late evening, he's the reluctant software engineer just going about his job and discovering new songs on the net. At times, he takes up the role of the amicable colleague who finalises the treats. He even stays up late for calls on some days and doesn't feel too bad about it.

On some nights he's the friend who's willing to listen to yet another heart break from someone he knows and give loads of 'funde'. Some of which he himself doesnt believe in.

At random times during the week (but mostly on weekend afternoons) he's the guitarist trying to explore the fretboard. His flatmates havent thrown him out yet and his next door neighbour has been pretty appreciative of his efforts, so he will continue.

On most weekday mornings, after being the guide, he's the investor trying to be intelligent. He wants to sound cool by saying something like "power and infra should see a surge post budget...". And he better be right because he's put his money there.

On late nights he's the dreamer who's dreaming big about the next year. And for a change, he has started taking baby steps towards it. Early days, ignorance; he can't really say, but he's feeling quite at ease with himself.

It's a period of his life which has more purpose than the previous few. He wants to change a few things about himself. Right now, he is content because he has started acting on the decisions he had made sometime back. And there's a feeling that they were the right ones.

Yet Another 'Rocking' Weekend

Pizzazz was fun. In fact it was really good. More so because the acting was flawless and the humour very commonplace and understandable. And yes, the female lead was hot. Then dinner at Pizza Hut where I wondered why the Arabic Chicken Sandwitch looked so different when served on a plate as compared to its picture on the menu. All this was preceded by breakfast at Nilgiris and lunch at home. The cook made mutter mushroom which was really yummy. We also checked out the new Sigma Mall before going to the play. Found it a bit claustrophobic and spent some time marveling at the spaciousness of The Forum.

Got eid-ki-sewaiyyan from the next door (its more next Window actually!) neighbour. He asked why the guitar had stopped in the last few months and I blabbered out some random reasons like being out of town and not keeping well. Although he did point out that he had heard me singing on Saturday morning and I was quite pleased. I love attention, you see. He also said that more often than not he sees the light of my room turned on when he wakes up for a glass of water at 2 or 3 at night and I told him that I read during that time.

The mutton biriyani at Caesar's Place was delicious and very different from the one at Samarkand. More spicy. But I love both.

Oh, and there was cricket and ToI and AajTak and Scrubs too. Yes, have started watching Scrubs again. It feels a bit different now. More real, if I may say so? For one, the soundtrack makes more sense now. The last season starts next week. Pity that it has to be the last.
And this song's nice.

Coral - Dreaming Of You

I know it's an absolutely shitty post. Was itching to write something and nothing was coming to my mind.