Life so Cruel

Name: Flight Lieutenant Ronald Kevin Serrao

Age: 26 Years

Birthday: January 17th 1981

Deathday: January 18th 2007

Married on: April 29, 2006

Married to: Flight Lieutenant Deepika Dadlani Serrao

I just came to know about this person 2 days back. I had heard the news on T.V. about a guy who had lost his life flying an IAF aircraft. I ignored this news as we have so many IAF aircrafts meeting with accidents nowadays. However my sister updated me that this person happened to be from our native place, and hence i referred a site for more details on him. Reading about him made me feel life is so cruel at times. Why did he deserve to die in this manner?

This guy was killed while taking part in a live air-to-ground firing exercise in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan. His father John Serrao was a Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) and his mom Jessica Serrao was a doctor. He had not even completed 5 years with the IAF, but his life did come to a tragic end.

It felt even worse reading his Orkut profile because we had people scrapping him on the 17th of January, wishing him on his birthday and the very next day people were writing scraps that involved condolences on his death. Life can change within such a short span of time. Don't know why GOD decided to call him at this early age. He had got married just about 8 months back to Flight Lieutenant Deepika, don't know what life has in store for this family now.

Here are some details of their profile which really ticked the funny bone in me:

Name: Ronald Kevin Serrao

Passions: Deepika

Sports:I'm game for anything...

Activities: Try me out....i'm ready

Books:I prefer them closed...or better still...in a library

Music: Can dance to any tune...

Movies: There are much better things to do in a hall ...I could never pay attention to one....;-)

Cuisines: Aaah..now u'r talkin...love to eat...donno y some people call me a carnivore though...

Job description: I always wanted to fly high in the sky ..so there i am...

Career interests: Aviation n aviation alone...d sky is my home...

Ideal match: Got one already

First thing you will notice about me: Everything

In my bedroom you will find: What do do expect....a football field???

Name: Deepika Dadlani Serrao
About me: Have you seen beauty with brains....its me

Activities: Love travelling...esp with kevin
Music: Crazy bout any kind of music..esp the kind kevin plays for me..

TV shows: Don't have time to watch the telly when kevin's around..

Movies: If only i could get my eyes off my husband...
Cuisines: Anything made by kevin
First thing you will notice about me: Kevin

Turn offs: Anyone other than kevin

My idea of a perfect first date: Just kevin

From my past relationships i learned: Kevin is the best

Five things i can't live without: kevin, kevin, kevin, kevin, kevin
In my bedroom you will find: kevin

What more can i say or write about what i have read of him. May his soul rest in peace and may his family come to terms with his loss, which would definitely take some time.

Spot the Difference

Saddam Hussein:

He happened to be the president of his country for a period spanning more than two decades,
However the fear which he generated among his own people was more than any other head of state.

Arab nations admired him as a leader, who dared to defy Israel and the West,
However some called him a barbaric dictator who should be finally laid to Rest.

Efforts from different world leaders failed in his persuasion,
And his regime was finally overthrown by a United States invasion,

His capture by the U.S. forces resulted in the start of his persecution,
And justice was finally delivered to his people in the form of his execution.

George Bush:

He is currently the president of his country for a period which is nearing two terms,
However the fear which he generates among Islamic countries is more than any other head of state.

Western nations consider him as a leader, who defied the United Nations and rest of the West,
However most of the Arab countries and other nations think of him only as a good speaker and for his similarity to a chimpanzee at best.

Efforts from different world leaders in going to war failed in his persuasion,
And hopefully his regime will be finally overthrown by a United States election,

Hopefully his capture by the Islamic Terrorists result in the start of his persecution,
And justice will be finally delivered to the civilians families who died in Iraq & Afghanistan in the form of his execution.

Physically or Mentally Raped

Recently i happened to watch a Marathi movie on one of the cable channels in Pune. The movie was titled Saatchya Aat Gharat (At home before seven). The movie was based on a true life incident and the end posed a question to all men watching it.

The story revolved around the rape of one of the girl students in Pune University by a fake police man. The incident not only covers the incident and its effects, but also the culture which the youth of today seem to blindly follow as modern.

The victim in this case happened to go out with her so called boy friend to a remote location at around night time. A person who impersonated as a cop, caught the two when they happened to get cozy. He then demanded their identity cards. As the couple did not have the same, the guy was told to get the ID card. The Cop then raped her in the guy's absence.

The fallout of this incident was the boy friend did not want to enter any relation with the girl, as she had been raped. The guy was concerned about the reaction of his family and society members if he were to enter into marriage with this female who had been "RAPED". A group of friends who were their classmates tried their best to convince the guy not to ditch her. However the guy posed a hypothetical question to one of his friends about what would he have done if he were in his place and his girl friend was raped.

The guy seemed to have no answer and he said as the question was hypothetical in nature he did not think it was necessary to answer the same. This guys girl friend then realized that the person who she thought was worth marrying, did not have the appropriate answer to what would he have done if she was raped.

The movie thus shows how the society has still not changed in regards to its outlook towards woman, especially when the woman happens to be a rape victim. There are a number of other issues which the youth of today can relate through this film.

However the one question posed by the guy, seems to have left a real imprint on my mind. What would i have done if my girl friend was raped? Would i ditch her, just because she is no longer a virgin? Is virginity the only issue for a boy to love a girl? Does a guy only love a girl for her physical features? What would i or you have done if the girl in this case was not our girlfriend and happened to be your wife, sister, or some relative.

This issue has made me think, but i feel the society needs to have a convincing answer. Do you have one?

James Blunt - You´re Beautiful Lyrics

This is a very cool song. I feel the words in this song express what we males feel sometimes after watching a beautiful girl pass by.

My life is brilliant.
My life is brilliant
My love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I'm sure.
She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.
You're beautiful.
You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.
Yes, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
She could see from my face that I was, Flying high,
And I don't think that I'll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last 'till the end.
You're beautiful.
You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.
La la lala la la la la la
You're beautiful.
You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
But it's time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.

(The video is available on: http://www.virgin.net/music/musicvideos/jamesblunt_yourebeautiful_hi.html)

Global Warming

Roads that had been flooded by floods in Dubai

Increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere is known as global warming,
However with the signs being so evident still we are showing no signs of transforming.

With every passing day its becoming clear that we humans are to blame for this mess,
But we are definitely not doing anything worth and the problem is just growing in excess.

Desert impacted by the heavy rains in U.A.E last week

Expected effects of global warming are many and various, both for the environment and for human life,
However on this issue the influential countries of the world for their personal gains are still in strife.

Major cause of global warming is the carbon dioxide released when fossil fuels like oil and coal are burned for energy,
Hence cleaner cars and cleaner power plants are some of the most important factors that can help overcome a major tragedy.

Vehicles that were damaged because of the water accumulation

Countries including the United States and United Kingdom are witnessing their worst summers,
While countries like the United Arab Emirates that have been deserts are witnessing floods.

Its high time where in all countries reach a common agreement on ways to tackle this issue,
And give mother nature the necessary treatment which for long has been overdue.

TIME TO PONDER

Currently it's that time of the year again,

Where most of us are trying to ascertain,

What we have achieved in the year that passed by,

And how to implement things, that would give our careers a high.

Its definitely a good time to ponder,
Before our minds begin to wander,
And try to plan and put things in place,
Before we end up making the new year a waste.

Meaning of life becomes clear when it's planned,

Some setbacks on the way should just be a motivation to understand,

That life is something similar to holding sand in our hand,

Which when held tightly is lost completely without our command.

Some of us would find different ways in getting solutions,
While some of us would go to the extent of making resolutions,
It's only the inner resolve that matters in the end,
Without which one can end up with only amends.

JESUS (LOVE) IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

Once, long ago, there was a young boy who lived in a distant land called Tandow. He was a cheerful lad with not a care in the world. A special friend had he, the little blue hummingbird. Now this little boy didn't have a lot of great friends, but the little bird and the boy were inseparable friends. The boy loved the little hummingbird so, he built him a home. The bird also loved the boy and would follow him wherever he would go. As time went by their love grew and grew.

Then one day the young lad met a pretty young girl in school. The girl had long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a cute little smile. This was about the time of the biggest dance of the year. All the boy could think about was how he would love to take the girl to the dance. He gathered his courage all day and at the end of school confronted the girl and asked her to go with him to the dance.

Now this young girl was very popular and felt she did not want to be seen with the boy who cared for her so, but she did not want to hurt his feelings and so figured out a way to avoid saying no or yes. She told the boy if he brought her a red rose she would allow him to escort her to the dance. This hurt the little boy because he knew that in the land of Tandow there had never been a red rose, in fact the only roses in the land of Tandow were white.

On the way home the boy kept mumbling to himself why couldn't she have asked for a white rose. There were hundreds of them in his front yard. Feeling sorry for himself the boy didn't even notice his friend the hummingbird fluttering above him. Now the bird loved him so, that it could tell instantly the boy was troubled. The bird hovered closer as the boy mumbled on home. Now the bird knew why the bird was so troubled.The bird could not rest all the night long, it pondered all night, a solution to the boy's problem.

Finally as the sun began to rise the answer to how the bird could help his best friend entered his mind. The little blue hummingbird flew to a rose bush and searched for a large rose with a stem bearing thorns directly above it. Now the bird chose a thorn and with all the power in his wings cast his small body against the sharp thorn. It entered with great pain, as the tear drops of blood fell upon the white petals of the rose.

Now as the boy was ready for school, as he left the house he saw a red rose, he could hardly believe it, he ran to the bush and plucked the red rose. In his excitement he failed to notice the lifeless little body that lay below the bush in a puddle of blood.

Happy as could be, he began with his red rose on his way to school. Before he got there some other boys playing football in a field called to him and asked him to come and play. His first thought was, no, he had something more important to do. But they begged him and said they really needed him to even the teams. He looked at the rose, then them, then back at the rose. He said to himself. Ah!!! she didn't really want to go with me anyway. Then, throwing the rose down, the boy went and played football.

You've probably already figured out the allegory...

1. The boy is each of us.
2. The humming bird is Jesus Christ.
3. The girl is eternal life.
4. The rose is the atonement.
5. The football game is the worldly things we sometimes feel are so important.

The message for the season; It’s a time of year to give the world something more just than presents from the store. Love is God. Live in love. Start the day with love. Spend the day with love. End the day with love. This is the way to God. Only the person who is filled with love will be dear to the Lord. Let us all spread Love and make Jesus the reason for the Season.

(This was the 49th post on my blog. However this was the first one which i had not written. I had read this article on my colleagues blog: http://ramcomendonca.blogspot.com/. With his permission i have published the same article on my blog, as the main purpose of this article was to convey the right message to the people reading this. )

My Mummy Strongest

There is a person who in the last 2 months has had to really slog,

Hence i thought it was very worth mentioning her on my blog.

I never knew this lady was really so strong from inside,

Coz every setback for him in hospital she took in her stride.

She lived her entire life under his shadow,

But throughout his suffering she did not mellow.

Every single day she was there with him in hospital,

And do believe me that in itself is very brutal.

With every passing day his health condition started looking very grim,

But still she managed to never break down a single day in front of him.

It was always expected that his passing away would bring out all the tears she had so long controlled,

And despite efforts by one and all there was no better person from whom she would get consoled.

I know she will miss his presence every single day of her life,

And that is something one can't help as she was his wife.

Hopefully with time she will come in terms with his loss,

Coz that is something in words we won't be able to put across.

Every moment that we fell down its you we used to clutch,

For everything you have been to us mom, thank you very much.

I know that words don't express everything one feels. However i think i did manage to express some things she had been through in the last 2 months.

What's Cooking?

I always wanted to learn cooking and i have tried out small things every now and then. Going to China and watching my colleague George cook so easily, motivated me to learn cooking. Hence 2day i decided to cook a complete meal for myself as i was alone at home. So i decided to cook chicken masala, rice, and tomato curry. I had the recipe for chicken masala so i went ahead accumulating the ingredients for the same.

Chicken Masala (Time: 1:30 minutes)

Ingredients:
Boneless chicken pieces, 500 gm
Chilli Powder, 1 tea spoon
Ginger-Garlic paste, 2 tea spoon
Oil, 4 table spoon
Salt, 1 table spoon
Onion, 2 medium sized
Tomato, 2 medium sized
Potato, 1 medium sized
Green Chillies, 3
Coriander leaves, according to requirement
Water, according to requirement
Chicken Masala, 3 tea spoon

Preparation:
Marinate 500 gm of chicken pieces with 1 tea spoon of chilli powder, 1 tea spoon of ginger-garlic paste, & salt. Keep this as it is for 1 hour. Fry 2 chopped onions in 4 table spoon oil. Add 3 chopped green chillies. 1 tea spoon ginger-garlic paste, & 3 tea spoon of chicken masala. Fry this stuff for 2 minutes. Add marinated chicken, 2 chopped tomatoes, water, chopped potato, and coriander leaves. Cook for 30 minutes. Ready to be served.

Tomato Curry (Time: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
Tomato Puree, 2 table spoon
Onion, 1 medium sized
Coriander leaves, according to requirement
Water, 200ml

Preparation:
Heat 200 ml water for about 5 minutes. Add 2 table spoon of Tomato puree and stir it in the heating water. Add chopped onion pieces and coriander leaves to this mixture. Boil this mixture for about 10 minutes. Ready to be served.

Cooked Rice (Time: 25-30 minutes)

Ingredients:
Rice, 300 gm (according to requirement)
Water, 500 ml
Salt, 1 tea spoon ( Change according to rice quantity)

Preparation:
Heat water for about 10 minutes in a utensil. Wash rice 3-4 times to clean it properly. Add rice to this boiling water, and add 1 tea spoon of salt. Stir occasionally. Heat this mixture till rice becomes sufficiently soft. Turn off the gas, and drain the water from the utensil. Keep this drained rice for about 15 minutes. Ready to be served.

Hoping that the food has tasted good enough so that i can continue my attempts at cooking.

TRIBUTE

The last 2 months or so have really been bad,
As its been a very painful time for my loving dad,

He looked hale and hearty just a few months back,
But all his sickness and suffering just took us aback.

Never ever thought my dad would have to endure such pain,
But in the end it seemed he had to go through this without any gain.

He struggled all his life without any personal gain,
However his beliefs and ideas will definitely not go in vain.

When people are alive and healthy we take their presence for granted,
Its only when they pass away we wish if he/she would not have departed.

There were so many things i wanted to learn from him,
However by his physical absence this possibility looks grim.

I know it is no good pondering over what brought him death,
Hence am looking forward to doing things that would have made him happy before his last breath.

Earlier when dad was healthy and fine i had written an article on him. Click Dad to check that post.

DAD (18.02.1941 - 31.10.2006)

I had started writing this article as I sat with dad during his critical period in the ICCU of Nanavati Hospital. For those who don’t know, my dad had been diagnosed with multiple complications after being admitted to hospital. This was dads 45th day in hospital.

My dad was very fine till about the first week of September. However after I left for Pune, my dad had got himself admitted to Asha Parekh hospital for some tests after he had complained of chest pain. During his 6 day stay in this hospital he was diagnosed with chronic renal failure. In simpler terms it meant 90-95% failure of the kidneys. The only solution for this was performing an operation for setting up a fistula in the forearm by which he would need to undergo dialysis for his entire life by coming to hospital 2 days in a week. The doctors had updated that the fistula was not required at the moment and so they discharged him after specifying some medicines.

During the period of 4 days after being discharged from hospital, my dad developed rashes on his entire body. He complained of chest pain again and had vomiting and so the local doctor was called home a couple of times. On the following Sunday afternoon he complained of severe chest pain and hence we moved him to Holy Spirit Hospital. The doctors after performing some initial tests confirmed that he had some complications in his heart and immediately admitted him to the ICU. During this period his Fistula operation was done, however the chest pain increased once dialysis had started. As Holy Spirit Hospital did not have a Cardio Unit he was moved to Nanavati Hospital. My dad had been in Holy Spirit for about 12 days.

After being admitted in the ICCU of Nanavati Hospital, the doctors performed an Angiography operation which is needed to check if there are any complications in the heart. This operation confirmed that my dad had 3 blocks in his heart which was the cause of chest pain. So the doctors suggested a Bypass Surgery which would get rid of these blocks and we agreed for the same. The 72 critical hours after the operation passed peacefully, however because of his kidney problems some complications arose. He developed swelling around his stomach and the doctors passed this off as nothing serious. They treated this with some medicines; however my dad was wreathing with pain for more than a week. The doctors said that because of his multiple problems of Diabetes, Blood pressure, Bypass Surgery and Kidney problems some complications may have taken place. During his 23 stay here in Nanavati Hospital he was admitted in ICCU for about 75% of the time.

We had thought that after having come out of that 72 critical hours after Bypass he would recover. However God had something else planned for him. Till the 40th day we had hopes that he would be discharged and we could take it home. However the problems intensified during his last 5 days and he even did not have the strength to speak. The doctors had left hope on the 44th day and seeing the pain and agony he had gone through during these days, even I prayed that to god to give him death. My dad always wanted a peaceful death; however god had some other plans. On the 44th day in hospital he was put on ventilator because of his breathing problems. Me and my cousin sister stayed that night in hospital.

His Blood Pressure had started dropping throughout the night despite of strong medications from the nurse to prevent this. At about 4:40 A.M on October 31st the screen which indicates the Oxygen showed zero, and a red line came on screen with a sound and my dad just banged his head on the left side and he passed away. This was the first time I had seen someone dying and believe me it was not a good feeling. The nurses and doctor ran into the ICCU at the moment but it was a bit late. They tried their best to bring him back to life, however it was not possible.

The doctor then broke the news to me and I informed my brother and sister firstly. I then called my cousins and my Dads elder brother and wife went home and broke the news to mom. It was a very hard time for the entire family. After being in hospital for so many days everyone expected him to get well so that we could bring him home. My Mom had stood like a rock with him during the entire 45 days. She did not break for a single moment until the 44th day. It was expected that she would show all her emotions on his death and she cried her heart out.

One thing I will regret is that we could not bring dad back home alive. My dad was always telling in hospital to take him back home. When we told him we would take him home once he recovers, he always said I know that you people will take me straight to the Cemetery and no where else and that proved the case. The last 45 days were physically, mentally, and financially exhausting for all in the family. However my brother left no stone unturned in his recovery. It was only possible due to my brothers help that dad managed to get all this treatment.

We will miss dad’s physical presence every day of our lives. However his thoughts and beliefs will definitely guide and strengthen us throughout our lives.

What's in NEWS?

Reading a newspaper has always been an addiction,
But news nowadays is being published without conviction.

Personal lives of many is being used as a subject,
And i hope about these the editors become more circumspect.

Beckham's wifes growing bust size is being used as a vice,
And this is just being done to sell news with some spice.

Rape and murders are being addressed in a very cheap manner,
And i guess its time even these newspapers have a censor.

Newspapers nowadays contain more information about the people who go to party,
And if you compare every other day's newspaper you will hardly see any variety.

I have been really avoiding reading newspapers of late,
Becoz in selling news the newspapers have started showing their true trait.

Just felt like writing

I have not written a poem since a pretty long time,
And this is something i really missed as a pastime.

I guess one needs a topic that is really motivating,
Coz the best comes out when you associate with that thing.

Most of the poems i had written when i was really inspired by a girl,
And that was the time when thinking about her made my mind swirl.

I think poems are ones feeling that are felt by the heart,
And that is something i could not write with a broken heart.

But it's been a good time as i tried to come out of this situation,
And hopefully i'll get better topics to handle my emotion.



Note: Its important for the other person in ur life to love u as u love that person.

Windows of the World

This Sunday morning Sunil and his relative Joe decided to visit Shenzhen, the place where I and George were staying. We decided to meet at a place called Windows of the World which is a major tourist attraction here.

I and George went to visit them at the railway station. This place is known as Windows of the World because it has replicas of all the worlds’ famous monuments. At the entrance it self there was a replica of the Ashoka Chakra. As we entered this place, I did not realize it was so big, but at the end, even one complete day was not enough to watch all the monuments. We seen replicas of the White house, Twin towers, Sydney harbor, Niagara Falls, Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal, Leaning Tower, Egyptian pyramids, Buckingham palace, and so on.

There were restaurants inside this place. So we had lunch at one of these food joints. I and Joe did not enough the food that much. This was the second bad experience if I may say with the food here. We had ice-cream and then continued visiting all the monuments. We tried removing our snaps with all these replicas. In between a Chinese girl wanted to remove her snap with me, for which I willingly agreed. There was also this father who wanted to remove snaps of his kid with us.

A day’s visit to this place was really not enough. We were taking breaks between all these sightseeing. Sunil had brought a lot of biscuits and cakes, which was a welcome refreshment on this trip. The number of monuments that were created were breathtaking and it had taken a lot of investment and effort to achieve this final result. This place truly deserves the attention of visitors and native alike. In between we also saw an Indian arrow shooting place. Here we had to pay a fee for purchasing the bows and arrows. I for one only managed to hit the target once in my ten attempts and that to at my tenth attempt. It was a feeling like: Better late than never.

We decided to attend our day by attending one of the final programs for the day. It was a stage show and they were performing acts related to the history of different countries. It was a truly enjoyable day and was worth every Yuan we paid for this visit.

Hong Kong

I and George had to renew our visas and so we had to visit Hong Kong. So we decided to go on 29th July. Abdul also decided to accompany us as he knew this place better.

So we met at Shi Ji Juan station at about 10:20 A.M. I and George had taken a bus to reach this station. From Shi Ji Juan station we took a metro train for Luo Hu. This journey took us about 40 minutes. This place is the border between China and Hong Kong and one needs to go through the immigration formalities here. Once we finished with all the necessary formalities of immigration, we decided to see some shopping malls in HK. So we caught a train for East Tsim Sha Shui. This took us another 40 minutes or so.

As it was already lunch time, we decided to convert the currency in HK Dollars and visited an Indian restaurant. We had rice, dal and chicken tikka here. (I know your mouth would be watering now, what with me always updating you about the food I had.) After lunch we went to some shopping malls. George wanted to purchase a digital camera, so he got a pretty good one here. I realized that HK was a really expensive place for shopping. All international brands were sold here and there were no sales right now. I did not want to return empty handed so purchased some toys for my niece and nephew.

We then caught a ferry to go to the main HK Island. Some of the biggest apartments were in this place; it was an 88 storey building. This place really looked spectacular at night. We then went to McDonalds and after visiting some places nearby decided to return for home. In terms of shopping, this place was not fruitful as clothes out here were really very expensive. I think if I ever were to visit HK again, I should make it a point to be there when there are heavy sales or else only if I am a millionaire.

Relationship Problem

During the conversation in Sunil’s house, we happened to come across some topic which was a bit funny in nature. Because of the Chinese government’s one child policy, many problems will arise in the near future.

Out here as the son/daughter is the only kid in the house, relations such as brother or sister don’t exist. Because the kid’s parents do not have any brother or sister of their own, the kid has no cousins. After the kid becomes old enough to marry, and when he marries he has no brother-in-law or sister-in-law as his wife had no brothers or sisters. So other than the grandparents on either side the kid has no other relations. So effectively a family comprises about 7 people. (Grandfather (2), Grandmother (2), Husband, Wife, and Kid). People here don’t follow any religion and also no one is interested in politics.

People here are only concerned with their economy and development. (Actually the root of problems in India which if I may say, religion and politics actually doesn’t exist there.) Another problem is China’s aged population. Husband wife have to effectively support a family of 7. Rising costs are adding to their burden.

Even though I see many advantages I also see an equal number of disadvantages. The kids out here are a pampered lot. The one child policy may help keep the population in check, but with no religion and small families and no brother-sister love, the kids become very arrogant.

The kids have not heard of god and have never felt brother-sister love. Can we live this way?

ENGLISH KORNER (18/07/06)

Last week while having lunch in the office I and George met David. He asked us if we were from India and we had a good conversation. He asked us if we could join him and others for a discussion which they have once a week. We decided to accept his invitation for the following week. They have this meeting every Tuesday after office hours in one of the meeting rooms.

As the following week Abdul also joined us, we 3 went to attend this discussion. They welcomed us by giving a round of applause and said they were really happy to welcome their Indian brethren. There were about 15-20 people here. This group calls themselves the English Corner. We formally introduced ourselves to them and they did the same. During this discussion I came to know why the staff in this company had English names. The company’s policy is such that when a person joins the organization they provide them with an English name. It sounds very strange, coz who would like to be known by a name which he/she had no relation with till they completed their graduation. This policy was in place so that when foreigners would come to their company it would be easier for them to remember the English names rather than the Chinese one.

The people out here were very excited to know about India. Some of the questions might sound ridiculous, but these were really asked. I am just stating some of these here.

Q1) Does real life in India differ from reel life? (This was asked specifically because they had seen girls and boys singing and dancing in Indian movies.)
Q2) If a boy has more money can he marry more than one wife?
Q3) Why do Indian girls win so many beauty contests?
Q4) Does the husband pay money to the bride while getting married or vice-versa?
Q5) How many servants does an average indian have in the house?

Some of their questions had us in splits, while for some we just didn’t have any answer. Though most of these guys speak in broken English, it’s encouraging to see them learning a language even though they know that it would hardly be used in the market there. Some of these guys were just learning so that they could communicate with foreigners and understand them. I know it would be difficult for these guys to improve their language as they hardly have access to English media. But did someone say, Nothing in life comes easy.

A GOOD WEEK (23/07/06)

George’s college friend Sunil Philip was staying in a place called Guangzhou which was about 3 hours away from our apartment in Shenzhen. He happened to return to this place after a vacation in India. So we decided to meet him on the weekend of 22-23rd July.

(Picture left to right: George, Me and Sunil)

I and George left on Saturday morning at about 10:30 A.M and we reached Guangzhou at about 2 P.M. We needed a bus and 2 trains to reach this place. Sunil came to receive us at the station. We clicked some snaps near the station and then took a cab to his apartment. The flat which he stayed was on the 20th floor of a 30 floor apartment. His apartment was the best that I had ever seen. A Chinese maid had cooked chapattis, baigann ka bhartha and potato vegetable. After having a good meal Sunil took us to a place called Beijing Lu, this is a very good place for shopping. All international and local brands are sold out here. I was hardly able to control myself and I purchased many clothes. We were there here for about 3 hours, and then we went to a shopping mall. Most shopping malls here are at least 4- 6 floors. We spend an hour here and then went to a Muslim restaurant.

The food was good. I had beef kebabs, mutton kheema, chicken with cashew nuts and afghani bread. (Is your mouth watering?) The staff here were of the border areas and one could mistake them for Russians or Kashmiris. After having this heavy meal we returned home around midnight. We watched T.V and I slept at about 2 P.M after we had our gossip. However George and Sunil happened to sleep after 4 P.M.

The next day morning we all got up late, had a light breakfast and then went out to see some other shopping malls. We had lunch in a Hunan restaurant. The menu included beef mixed with some vegetables, rice and soya pannier and some mixed vegetables. After this we visited one of the biggest malls in Asia. After this we went to Sunil’s office. He was the manager of this office and so he had the keys. We then sat for an hour and then went to his apartment. We left at about 6:30 P.M. Sunil came to leave us to the station. We reached our apartment at about 10 P.M.

This was the best weekend I had in China, and I hope this is the first of many.

A Week in China (16/07/06)

It’s been a week since I landed in China, and I have really enjoyed my stay till now. At the start of this trip I knew that food was going to be a problem here. However one week has passed and I have not yet had an upset stomach. Every evening my colleague George cooks vegetables and rice for dinner. So this was like having home made food. In the afternoon at workplace we order meat curry and rice. This food is spicy just like our Indian food. So the food in fact has been very good.

(Picture top row left to right: George, Me, Allan, Abdul. Bottom row left to right: Carrol, Grace, Joline and Jessie)

My office timings here are 8:30 A.M to 5:45 P.M, Monday to Friday. There are some company buses that leave at 8 A.M, about 5 minutes from our apartment. So I wake up daily at 6:40 A.M and have bread and jam, bananas and a glass of vitamin C juice. Every evening when we return from work, we head straight to the supermarket, purchase some vegetables and some necessities and then return home. Because George takes care of the cooking, I only bother to fill my stomach.

The workplace is good. The first thing we do after entering the office is access the Internet. There is an Internet Café in the office, as we are not allowed to send mails from our work seat. Lunch is from 11:45 A.M to 1 P.M. The lights go off prior to lunch indicating that’s it’s a lunch break. People here finish their lunch in 15-20 minutes and take a nap. People here bring their sleeping stands to office. They just open these and go to sleep. Other than the 4-5 people we interact with, the others don’t really speak English. People here only speak the local language, so if we have to communicate with them, it’s definitely not possible.

Shopping at the supermarket is easy coz all products have their price tags displayed. It is better if one is able to locate the product he/she wants than to try asking for a product. Allan our project lead has provided us with 3 sheets of translation. It basically contains some information in English along with its Chinese translation. So if we want to know which bus goes from any place to our apartment we just show that paper to the people at the bus stop. Allan has been really very helpful. From the first day itself he has been helping us out in many ways.

The only scare I had this week was during the Mumbai blasts. Because of the time difference between India and China, (China is 2:30 hours ahead of India) I had already gone to sleep. George happened to watch the English news channel, so he woke me up o update about the same. I called up home soon after to find out about their safety. By next day evening I was able to confirm that all my friends were safe. It’s sad that about 200 or more innocent people lost their lives, but it was good to know that people continued with their lives as usual the very next day. Cheers to Mumbai’s never say die attitude. God is there to do justice to what is right and wrong. I know that he is watching all of this.

Just want to end this article as it starts to rain here. I think its going to be a wet weekend. But I don’t think it’s going to have an impact on us as we have to just eat, sleep and watch T.V. for the next 2 days. Bye for now.

First Two Days in China (09/07/06)

I was going to China via Bangkok and hence I knew in advance that the journey would be a bit hectic. George Abraham from the Bangalore division gave me company from Bangkok International Airport. After we finished with all the immigration formalities in HK and China, we finally stepped into China. We needed 2 flights, a bus and a car to reach our apartment in Shenzhen. As soon as we had stepped at the taxi stand after alighting from the bus, Allan from the client company was waiting for us with a placard displaying our names. He took us in a local taxi to the apartment we would be staying.

The apartment we were going to stay was a fully furnished house. It had a T.V, Fridge, Microwave, Dishwasher, Washing Machine, Cooking Gas and a Geyser. There were 3 bedrooms, I and George decided on our rooms while in the mean time Allan went to get some drinking water for us. Allan was heading the international marketing division for the product they were developing. I took bath and then had Maggie noodles which George had cooked in the microwave. In the evening Allan took us to one of the employee’s house who stayed near our apartment. This females name was Grace and Allan was updating me that she was unmarried and was pulling my leg. Grace offered us coconut juice and we then went out for dinner. The people in China have their dinner by 6:30 – 7 P.M.

The hotel which they took us was only providing chopsticks, so Grace went out to a shop to purchase spoons and forks. Allan ordered mutton, beef, chicken and some vegetables. I just had mutton fry and rice, as I did not like the way the rest of the food was cooked. I felt bad in a way as I did not want them to feel that I was not enjoying their food. But being the first day I was trying to avoid having an upset stomach. We went to one of the supermarkets and then came back home to end what was our first day in China.

Sunday morning we both got up quite late. I had jam and bread for breakfast. George then gave me some cash and told me to purchase rice and cooking oil from the supermarket. I managed to purchase this after performing some actions as the people out here doing speak Chinese. After coming home George cooked some rice and added some cooking masala which he had brought from India. In the evening Allan came to our house and took us to some different supermarkets. We did some basic shopping and returned home. Think will have sausages tonight. That’s all for the first 2 days in China.