Kind of a Surprise

Surprises can offer more happiness (than how it would have been if that thing or situation was expected) when it brings something good.  Is there anything which can came as a surprise, neither good nor bad, make us sad and make us happy as well?

Prologue

I watched the Prison Break only recently, after coming to US; though it was aired internationally (most of us might have heard about this very popular American serial. If not, this serial is about a man who got sentenced to death for killing the brother of the Vice President of USA. When this guy’s brother, who is a genius structural engineer, comes to know that his brother is innocent, he deliberately ‘tries’ to loot a bank to lead him to the prison where his brother is and then successfully breaks him out from that high security prison.  Though the story looks simple, it’s a brilliant work with further twists and the story was written by different people and episodes were directed by different people). 

I am a fan of Clint Eastwood and I have seen most of his popular movies, including ‘Escape from Alcatraz’. Alcatraz was a high security prison built on an island in San Francisco Bay. Only three people ever broke that prison and escaped (they broke the prison and their dead bodies were not found; so it is assumed that they escaped, though some people do not agree).   In that movie, Eastwood plays the lead man Frank Morris who made the escape possible. Alcatraz is not a prison anymore but a tourist attraction.  Last weekend, I paid a visit to San Francisco to have a sightseeing cruise which included passing this island.

The Surprise

Yesterday night, I felt like checking the mail box at 10 pm (since I wasn’t expecting any mails, I did not check in the afternoon) and there is  summons from  the Superior Court of California. I checked the address many times, yes, it is addressed to me. I got worried, what could be this? I used to get some calls from the debt collectors. But they were looking for one Italian guy and not me. So, what on earth is this?

 I opened the envelope and just below my address line, I read this

‘ Failure to respond to this summons will subject you to a fine, a jail or both’.

 Jail? If this innocent man goes to jail, who will break the prison for me?

Looking at my face, my wife grabbed the paper from me and read (she reads at least 10 times faster than me) and told me

“They want you to become a Jury in that court for one trial and you will be paid fifteen dollars’

This is great ! I am the jury of the superior court of California, excellent job ! who care about the pay. I became very happy.

See?

Note: In the U.S. there is this ‘Jury service’ in which the judiciary asks people to become one of the juries. They select people randomly.  It is mandatory for that person, including disabled people, to become the jury if one is qualified (it is not educational qualification but some other criteria and the first criteria is that one has to have U.S. citizenship).  If one is not qualified, one must inform them.  In the case of working people, the employer must give time off. I wasn’t aware of this till yesterday (June 28, 2010)

Can Snakes hear?

Around the world, in how many countries human(s) depend on snakes to meet their ends?  Mostly in India (and a few more countries). For some illiterate village people, snake charming was a profession in India. Even now we can see them here and there (it’s against law). Lately, I happened to see one snake charming video in the Internet where that guy plays the traditional musical instrument to make the snake ‘dance’. Among some comments posted by some people, I read something like this too “you fool, snakes cannot hear” I accept the fact that this charmer is performing this act since it was his tradition and not because he has extensive knowledge about snake’s hearing abilities. But still, are snakes deaf?

I remember that I studied that way in my science class in my schools. Snakes do not have external ears and hence they cannot hear. They sense the vibrations on the ground and they have a special tongue which is capable of sensing on ground, air and water. The end. This is where the science or may be some section of the scientists went wrong – instead of accepting the fact that ‘we do not know’ they made that as a statement. Thus this ‘fact’ became part of biology/science text book.

But there were some biologists and scientists who did not hesitate to say ‘we do not know’ and nobody cared them. Who cares those doesn’t know something? But they were the people who were standing at the right side.

 Somehow, some biologists/scientists got attracted to the jaw of the snakes. Snakes have special jaws which help them swallow food bigger than their (mouth) size. But now it is known that these jaws have got ability to pick up sounds. And this mechanism works like two ears and hence they can hear in stereo. 

Snakes can hear better when they keep their jaw on the ground but this does not mean that they are deaf if they lift their head off the ground. If we keep a paper in front of our mouth and speak or if we touch the cone paper of a speaker when the speaker is working, we can clearly feel the vibrations. So, snake too should be able to pick up vibrations travelling via air, though it can do that better when grounded. From the jawbones, these vibrations go to the inner ear (to the cochlea, to be precise) and nerves carry this to brain.

Some earlier studies showed that snakes do not respond much to louder sounds. Now the same is interpreted as a defense mechanism exhibited by snakes. It is like soldiers lying on the ground when they hear a ‘bang’.  When they ‘hear’ such big sounds, instead of being panic, may be snakes prefer to stay motionless and make use of all its gifted sensing abilities, who knows?

At least snakes understood what Lord Voldemort said, didn’t they?

 

Acid Reflux Remedies … The Secret Ingredients

What are the remedies for Acid Reflux, especially the home remedies?

There are so many websites that offer two secret home remedies which they claim as cure for acid reflux or GERD; remedies which just hide in the grocery cupboard in our kitchen. Those sites contain a lot of ‘testimonies’ too. To know what they are, we need to pay 30-40 dollars. That is one way of making money via internet. It is just a business and it usually comes with a disclaimer saying they do not have any responsibility or liability if anything goes wrong..

Here is that top secret ingredients info for free:

1.Apple cider vinegar

2.Honey

(Then comes Chewing gum, milk and 7up, baking soda etc )

I am a person who have faced severe acid reflex and I even underwent endoscopy to get it confirmed or to determine the severity. But I am not writing this to recommend above mentioned remedies but to ‘expose’ those secrets so that there is no need to pay for just two names.

Me being a GERD man, what do I suggest? I suggest doing a neat search in the internet and read more. Give weightage to those sites which are more health and medicine related than sites which sell particular brands of apple cider vinegar or honey.  A spoon of vinegar won’t give us any serious damage, even if it backfires.  So there is no harm in trying at own risk.

This blog is not about what acid reflux is, its causes and remedies or even how I personally manage it (I might write that…may be next time)

Anyway, I would like to make a special note on this apple cider vinegar (ACV) thing. There are two theories about how it works and they are contradictory.

 Look at the two possible situations of acidity – body producing more acid than needed and body producing less acid resulting in indigestion and reflux. In the first case, the theory says if we take ACV, body will start producing less acid considering there already is enough acid. In the second case, ACV helps fill the lack of acid and helps digestion. Which one is right? Second one looks logical but I really do not know. If both theories are right, anybody who has GERD can take ACV, which I don’t think so. 

 

Words and Silence

When we arrange alphabets in such an order that it appears in the same way in a dictionary, we make a meaningful word.  We can make people relax, laugh, cry, angry or even hurt by arranging some alphabets in one way or another. Then it can convey emotions.

Words are not just a collection of alphabets but it also has got some meaning.  So is silence, sometimes…

Height of Technology

The other day, I was listening to radio using my Nokia E51 when I felt like going to toilet. It was too late when I realized that there is no toilet paper.  That phone had no SIM and hence I cannot make any call or send any text. I used the phone to connect to my WiFi in offline mode and logged into Gmail and sent one mail with subject line ‘URGENT’ to my wife (who was working from home that day) in her official id. In few seconds the toilet paper got door delivered. 

Geee

India, Idols and a Rat

Following is taken from a mail (my reply) to one of my friends...Yes, copy righted by me. That friend (lives in another country) saw a TV program about Indian culture where they say we Indians eat food with rats (sharing same plate) and we worship animals as God. My friend wanted to know whether I am such a person or not...Interesting

Selamat Pagi !

[ removed some paragraphs which are not connected to the above]

Understanding Indian culture is not easy. Hinduism is not a religion founded by somebody but it’s a way of living. Christians follow Bible, Muslims follow Koran and what about Hindus?

Hindus have 4 Vedas (or may be 5, when we consider Ayurveda, the Indian system of medicine), over 108 upanishads, Smritis, 4 Ithihasas including Ramayana, 18 Puranas, Bhagavat Gita (its part of one of the Ithihasa – Mahabharata), more than 4 Agamas, 6 Darshanas…there is a scripture about love making (Kamasutra) there are books about how to construct buildings (Vaastu)…I really don’t know how many scriptures we have got..we have scriptures dealing with every aspect of our life. What I know very clearly is that one human life is not enough to study all these.

One of the most popular  ways or learning  basics of arithmetic is by way of using counting frames or Abacus. Initially, a student physically see what is 1 or what does it mean when we say 2.  Once the skills are achieved, a student moves on to mental math. The more skilled you are the more you can do mentally ( for example, the Indian math genius  Shakuntala Devi can perform  all the math YOU teach  your students using  black/white board or paper and pen/pencil, just mentally).

In a similar fashion, in Hinduism, the idea of a supernatural force (God) starts with forms (pictures, idols etc) and end in a formless God. When a person finally realizes that God is not just a creator but he is there in his creation, they sees God in everything around them and this includes trees, animals etc. Sounds stupid?

Consider that somebody prayed to a formless God and his/her prayer got answered. Had that person prayed to a tree with same intensity and devotion, then also the prayer would have answered. If first one did not work, the second one also would not work. 

As per Bible, one is not supposed to worship idols. But as you can see these days, there are lots of Christian denominations (mainly catholic) who worship  the idol of Jesus, Virgin Mary, and the Cross. Same with the  Hindus too. They go to temples and offer prayers. Are they just fools and idiots?

No, they go there coz their prayers are getting answered (I am not saying every prayer..why is it so? this universe has some subtle logic). It doesn’t matter to whom you offer your prayer, to Allah, Christ or Krishna, it goes to one direction. That’s the reality.

Enough introduction. Now you know why some people worship a snake or a tree, I mean the logic. Some people say the worship or snake started from fear. That has some sense, possible. Worshipping the form is the easiest way of worship. For a 5 year old child, if we show the an idol of Krishna or Jesus and say ‘ That is God’, they can understand it better, than we pointing our finger to Sky and telling there sits the God (An Indonesian’s up is an American’s down. When an Indonesian and American points to sky, they point in opposite direction. When people from different parts of the earth points their finger up, they point to different places of the universe. Either this (God concept) is total nonsense or it means God is everywhere, there is no third possibility)

Then why can’t we directly worship the formless? It is not easy to digest. Osama Bin Laden may be able to recite the whole Koran without looking the Koran. But don’t you think he miss the whole point of spirituality? Did he understand God? When I say this, I am not telling that only those who worship idols understood God better. There are millions who get stuck to the idol itself for their whole life and think that idol is God. On the other side, there are millions who worship a formless God (since they are taught worshipping God in form is sin)and never sees the presence of God in his/her life here (on earth) when they are actually living. For them, God sits up in the sky and stuffs related to God happens only after their death. There are some others who believe God is giving some test here and he/she is going to get the result on the day of final judgment.  As a teacher, you know why you are giving your students a test. It is to measure how much they learnt/understood, right? You are testing them because you don’t know to what extend your student know. Why is God giving us a test? Coz he don’t know what we humans know? After all it is He who created us. And he need to give us a test? Then I would say he is not worth calling God.

Now, the straight answer to your question – No, I do not worship a rat or a monkey nor do any of my Hindu friends or relatives (I am very sorry to admit that I had even killed snakes). We do not share food with a rat, which is not at all hygienic (some people eat rats, you know that?). I have never heard of anybody in India doing that. May be some minority sect somewhere might have done that and that TV people got it.

Outside India, people will hear only the bad side of India. India is a nuclear nation,  every software you use has some Indian connection, including the one which helps you read this mail, India sends the satellites of many other countries into the space, zero was invented here, we have thousands of years old scriptures which deals with math including trigonometry, airplanes, architecture,.. the first brain surgery was done here (thousands of years ago by Sushrutha). Thousands of years ago, Indians knew that earth is round in shape and it is the earth that is circling the sun and not the other way…we have books on astronomy and astrology.....it’s a long list. But outside world see only the bad things, even today.

A Russian friend of mine thought that in India there are no toilets. Another friend of mine from Paris did not believe me when I said I live in 11^th floor of my apartment coz she thought India is a poor country and we Indians live in small houses and huts.  That is how India is being promoted by the west with some vested interest.  After that ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ movie couple of my friends from abroad asked me ‘ do you still have such slums?’ they did not ask ‘do you have such brainy boys in your slums?’, do you see? So I am not surprised if you saw such a TV show about India.

[removed the rest]

Rgds

Jay

Internet Security, a Joke?

Some long time ago, I had mentioned in one of my blogs that Google is one of the major players who is after digging up stuffs from our computer. If we are using any of the Google products, we knowingly or unknowingly share some of our personal details with them - it can be the searches we made, the sites we visited, our IP address when we accessed internet, the browser we use, the operating system with version and service pack, our MAC address, mail ids, passwords…

Now it’s official that they were sniffing on our wireless routers, whether it’s secured or not. If it was secured, they collected the IP and MAC address and possibly the number of connections. If it was not a secured one, well, they might have sniffed out everything that was possible when their Street View cars were passing through our neighborhood roads. To some extent, by combining IP address and MAC address (as a composite primary key in their database) they can even point their fingers to specific people. We already know that they read every mail in we send/receive via Gmail.  (since its millions/billions of characters, they use software to read and it’s not read by any individual. But this does not mean that no individual can access these data. The relevant ads we see on sides of the  Gmail is placed using Business Intelligence (BI)technology and those who develop that definitely need sample data)

 It is said that some (government) agencies are going to check/audit the data they collected by sniffing the wifi networks. Google’s explanation about this spying is too silly and childish. How can somebody inject a chunk of code without the project manager or testing team know? And how can they keep such HUGE data (they sniffed out data from around the world) in their servers without the network admins know? Who were taking the backups then? They say they did not use these data for any of their products. Then why were they keeping these terabytes of data they collected over many years?

It is good that somebody made this public..Now they are going to offer  (probably by next week) some secured search engine! As if they care about our privacy !

This Google story was the best joke I read this week…

Golden Day !

Golden Gate Bridge was in my ‘must watch’ list since months. But ‘the time’ did not arrive till last Saturday, that is  May 8^th  2010.

I had heard about this bridge loooong back, when we studied about the wonders of the world. But that time, I had no idea that one day I would see it for real. This bridge, built on Pacific Ocean to connect the SF peninsula to the Marin County, is THE symbol of San Francisco. When we consider this was built on 1937, this is really amazing.

Apart from being one of the seven wonders of the world, this bridge holds another credit – United State’s most popular suicide point…. the place where world’s most suicides happen.  Now, pedestrians are not allowed in the bridge at night. Somebody suggested and designed a suicide net to prevent the jumps but there is no fund. The documentary film ‘The Bridge’ is based on this bridge and its suicides. I did not watch that documentary yet but it is said that they captured some real suicide jumps. Wonder what was important, filming a suicide or preventing the jump…I don’t know. If they prevent, may be those guys would go to some other place and die.

What if one do not die after jumping from this bridge? Should we call them lucky or unlucky? I don’t know. The bridge is very high (abt 75 meters from sea water) and when somebody jumps from there, he/she reaches at a speed of over 120 km/hour before hitting water.  If we fall from such heights to water, it is as good as jumping from a 75 m high building onto the floor. Science says the property of water is like that……its kind of immediate death.  But still, some people did not die… lucky or unlucky?

Anyway, I would call myself lucky and unlucky. Lucky, for being able to see the bridge myself…and unlucky?

My Golden Gate visit gave me another everlasting memory. I accidently passed through the FastTrack toll gate without paying toll and now eagerly waiting for my first ticket in the US !

 

 

Blog in the Mind

The other day, one of my acquaintances asked me:

“Why are you not blogging anymore?”

I said:

“Thanks for asking; but I was asking the same question to myself”

Yes, I was kind of regular and I wrote over 450 blogs…

Is it just laziness? Or maybe I was after something else …or maybe it’s a mixture of both

At least one or two of my old blogs need some correction/update...

 I will be back, very sooooon

Old Age Home

The ornamental tree

New leaves got trimmed

Old leaves stayed.

 

 

Be Truthful ! Boss bless you .

Should we always be truthful to our employer?

More than a decade back, one day, I went to my boss’s cabin and said, 

“Sir, I want a day’s off day after tomorrow”

“Why?”

“I am going to Cochin to attend an interview”

“Which company?”

I tell him the name of the company and he immediately replied:

“You won’t get that job….they might have already taken somebody else”

I became sad.  He read that from my face (I am a poor actor)

“OK, go ahead”

This is the kind of blessing you would get if you are too truthful, idiotically truthful !

 

 

 

Happy Candle ...

"Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared..."

- Gautam Buddha. 

Jesus ! A Good News !!

To veg or non-veg, that is NOT the question.

When a (virtual) friend of mine came to know that I am a vegetarian, told me that she will make me eat cow’s meat when I visit her. Why cow? Because I am a Hindu and Hindu’s (generally speaking) consider cow as a holy animal. Of course, I know she was not serious about it and even prepare some vegetarian dish if I ever visit her. But since cow’s meat got dragged into the talk, we happened to discuss some ‘religions, eat meat !’ things.

Muslims do not eat pork not because it is holy for them but they consider pig as one of the dirtiest animals in this planet, unlike a Hindu’s view on cow who considers cow as mother.

If I am not wrong, Old Testament is applicable for all Abrahamian religions (in general. I understand that there are new religious sects who keep a Bible which has only New Testament and they do not read or follow Old Testament).

The Bible says:

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

- Genesis 1:29-30

Adam and Eve were provided with fruits and vegetables, as food, in the Eden garden.

Ah, then comes Saint Paul and his letter to Romans saying all food is clean (Christians who eat pork takes cover under this). More than half of the New Testament is written by St.Paul…. Who is this St.Paul?

During my Bible study period (and even now) I got this feeling of ‘Bible is tampered with or manipulated’ feeling . This St.Paul was not one among Jesus’ direct disciples and the worst, he never even met Jesus. If we check a Red Letter Bible (there is something called red letter bible where whatever is spoken by Jesus is printed in red and rest in black), red letters are very few. It would be just couple of pages. So, I have never taken this St.Paul very seriously and even suspect many things are written by somebody else in the name of St.Paul.

Jesus is considered as somebody who preached love and compassion. There is a popular picture of Jesus with a lamb. When we look at it, what impression we get? Does it look like he is going to kill that animal and eat?

That answer is a big NO

.

There was a research done on ‘the Last Supper’ picture and it was found out that the food items on the table are growing more and more, though it started with bread and wine. Why there was no meat on last supper? After a decade or so this bread and wine picture will slowly vanish and it can even end up with pork with an apple in its mouth!

So, was Jesus Christ a vegetarian? Recent studies tell that there is high possibility. Some even believe that he indeed was a vegetarian. A Google search ‘was Jesus a vegetarian’ now gives over a million results, see? Lots and lots of people started thinking that way, because he was man of compassion. Lots and lots of people are now curios about his life between his thirteen and thirty period. The journey of Jesus the carpenter to Jesus the Christ…any search on this connection also leads to a million search results…

Read Bible a thousand times and we cannot find a teaching from Jesus which says ‘Have compassion only to humans’. His compassion and love was not just limited to human race. He did love animals and he had compassion for them. How can such a person kill an animal and eat it?

How do we get meat these days? Those animals are grown just for meat. They are genetically grown in such a way that they have more flesh. Thus most of the grown up chickens, pigs and other animals cannot even stand on their feet. Of course they try to stand up since its natural instinct and then breaks their legs. Then its pain, agony…

Just like we humans, animals too suffer from pain. That is why the pharma companies and the researchers try their new medicines including the pain killer drugs on animals… Some religions do not even allow animals to be stunned before being slaughtered. If we check YouTube , we can get some idea how these animals are being killed for meat in modern day….Will Jesus eat meat if he see how this animals are grown, treated and killed? No way !

Jesus in the Cross tried to tell us about such pain…He tried to pass some message....but who cares?

To veg or non-veg, that is NOT the question…

God's Cup of Tea

How to make a cup of tea?

“If this is the way you make tea, it is better we drink milk”

That’s a comment I heard from a relative when my wife told how she makes tea. The tone was as if my wife is making it in a wrong way or as if she doesn’t know how to make tea. Well, I am not trying to justify my wife but she makes good tea and it’s not at all like drinking milk, in fact she likes to drink strong tea. The statement from that person was unrealistic and exaggerated. But that is not the point here…how to make a cup of tea?

I am not going to tell how exactly we can make a cup of tea because people are different and they all have their own way of making tea or liking tea. It is not like drinking Coke which has a standard around the world. In my native State, if we ask for just tea in ‘Tea Shops’, they might not consider the request complete till we specify what kind of tea we want – Light, Medium or Strong….. India is the second largest producer of Tea in the world and we consume lot of it. Here most of us know how to make a cup of tea the way we like it. So?

So, the thing is if somebody thinks my way is the only right way to make tea and others are wrong, it’s just ignorance.

We gets such comments for almost everything and the worst part is that it's free of charge and we don’t even have to ask for it… the way we have arranged furniture in our home, the color of the car we chose, cot, fridge, our shoes, dress, toothbrush… does everyone in this world has the same likes, dislikes, thoughts, inhibitions, fears, ambitions, emotions, views, talent, aptitude, fantasies…..though God created man in His image? Is nature filled with just one kind of tree, rose, spider, rat, snake, orchid, coconut palm, jasmine, ant, rice, mango, banana….??

The point is making tea is also like believing in God, His forms, and His ways…

Daylight Saving ! Upto 50% off !!

This was my first experience with saving the light act. Back in India, we never got any chance to save the day light. What people used to save was money and some non-perishable goods. I was trying (some people, including one of my teachers, think/believe that there is nothing like ‘trying’ . Sorry guys, it all depends on the way you look at it), to make my son understand why he has to go to bed an hour earlier than his usual time and wake up an hour early too. Kids are like that, they question us. And, one beauty of being a child is the ability to question things …. An ability many of us lose when we grow up.

I am pretty sure that I had studied about ‘day light saving’ in geography in 7^th grade or so. I don’t remember what it was but definitely they might have told us some reasons and logics. Now I am sure that I might not have properly understood it. I never thought about day light saving after that geography lesson till I got befriended with an American some 4 years ago. I did not see that person online at a particular time for many days (without notice) and I started wondering what might have happened. I got a reply

‘Sorry, I forgot to update you about the day light saving ’.

For us, this year, it started on Sunday the 14^th at 2 am. And how was it?

When I woke up at 7 am on 14^th, the day looked darker compared to the 7 am of 13^th. What is the logic behind this pushing our clocks one hour ahead? Well, there is no logic. Ask any astronomer or geographer and they would just shrug and point their finger at......... So, it is not that easy to make kids understand what exactly is happening.

When we look at the history of this daylight saving time (DST), we won’t see any astronomer or geographer but a biologist, George Hudson. In reality, he suggested that for personal benefit. He was an entomologist and he thought if he gets extended hours (oh yeah, he was willing to get up early) he can use it for collecting specimens. And he even suggested turning the clock two hours ahead. Some other guy supported it because he wanted to play golf after work. Then the politicians took this into their hand and started playing with it with inputs from businessmen. Russia and America hardly agree on anything and hence they never change the clock on the same day. Here in the US, each State has some freedom and hence the congressmen (yes, it’s a political decision to turn the clock at 2 am) in Arizona State decided to not to observe DST, though they are very part of the US.

Why somebody want to extend the time? There are many (controversial) theories. The advocates of DST claim that we can save energy since the usage is less in the afternoon coz of the extended day light. A study by the US Department of Transportation came out with data to support this theory. But the National Bureau of Standards reviewed this data and found incorrect and according to them, the energy saved is insignificant. This is because people wakes up early and starts their life early. A study exclusively on California proved that there is no energy saved because of DST. So, it all depends on geographical factors, life style, technology, way of living and many other factors.

Some people thought it has great health benefits since people wakes up early. But this again went wrong. The group that got benefited by the extra sunlight is those who used it wisely by doing physical exercises or participated in some sports. Some studies show that DST leads to more exposure to sun which is one reason for (more) skin cancer. Another study shows the heart attack rates went up during the early days of the start of DST. Then comes the theory of reduced road accidents. Once again there were data to support this view and there were another set to disprove it. So who actually benefits from this time push?

It is the business world. Retailers can sell more since people gets more time to shop (in the evenings). Since retailers sell more, whole-sellers sell more and thus the manufacturers produce more. There was a study based on the data collected from 7-Eleven stores which showed that their sales increased by 30 million during this DST period (its an old study).

DST disturbs our normal sleep pattern. Those who are undergoing a therapy for insomnia are the ones who are in real trouble during this time shift. Companies with international clients and meetings also face some issues. Some countries abolished practicing DST since it resulted in more health related complications (eg. Kazakhstan ). China and Japan too dropped it. DST is kind of cheating…. sometimes coated with ignorance or vested interests. . I read somewhere that ‘…DST is not Uncle Sam’s idea but it was in existence even in the BC’. Was that really DST?. Those days, people adjusted their activities based on sunset and sunrise and they did not try to push the clock and fool themselves. And the ‘modern’ man? The modern man simply turns the clock forward and says:

‘Look, the sun sets very late these days !, isn’t it awesome?’

I hope, one day, the political leaders from all the countries would sit together and decide:

‘ Ok guys, now on, we will follow the Sun’

High hopes ! (Who said that?)

The Pi Spider Day

For anything and everything there is a day to celebrate, these days. Most of these days are invented by (greeting) card companies and some other multinational commercial establishments. There are some exceptions too. For example, March 8^th is considered as International Women’s Day. But since it has some socialist connections, it’s not observed in most of the capitalist countries (and its allies?). It is even a holiday in some countries like Russia and China (only for women). But it’s ignored in the U.S.

Is there any such 'day' that I don’t like?

No, it’s not valentine’s day I am talking about but March the 14^th. It is observed as the ‘Pi’ Day. This day fell on March (third month) 14 because the value of Pi is 3.14. So, what about countries who do not follow the mm.dd.yy ? There comes another day to console them, those who follow the dd.mm.yy, the Pi approximation day, which falls on 22nd of July (since the value of Pi is 22/7). Thus Pi enjoys two ceremonial days in every year. But how can I love this day? Math and me never were buddies..

Is that all? Nope, the worst thing is yet to come..

March 14^th also happened to be ‘National Save a Spider Day’ !

What the heck ! Are they going to extinct? It is said that wherever we are, there is a spider within 3-10 feet close to us. They are there everywhere, over 40,000 species of them. On land, in the water, in the air (yes some of them travel by air without Visa and Passport using some balloon technology). Yes, I agree that spiders are one of the main predator of insects, but still, a save a spider day?

I hope there would come at least this ‘National Arachnophobia Day’ to those who have arachnophobia (No, I am not scared of spiders, especially the BIG BLACK SPIDERS !)

M & M

Mondays and March(s) weren’t friendly for me when I was a school boy. March always brought final exams. Mondays came with blues which disturbed the laziness that we hesitated to part with. I was born on a Monday, I got married in a March and my son was born in another March…

Though students and those who work hate Mondays, Monday is considered as a good/auspicious day in many religions. Fasting on Monday is popular in Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam. May be it was there in earlier Christianity too but at some point of time they decided to ditch Monday coz they did not want to follow a Jewish custom (and opted Wednesday).

Monday is moon day and moon influence our mind, mood and feelings. Moon has some feminine connections too and in Hinduism, usually it’s the women who observe fasting on Mondays.

It was the start of the year and it is the start of spring…

“When my Lord falls on my Lady’s lap,

England, beware of some mishap”

So, there is hope..

March with a Monday…

Unbirthday

This year’s birthday had a specialty. This was the first time in my life so far that I ‘celebrated’ my birthday abroad. India is kind of one day ahead of US. Astrologically, our birthday is connected to the day and date of our place of birth. But I decided to stick to US date and hence I got this chance to enjoy my first unbirthday.

Those who follow the tradition has one more day to celebrate. Because we (those who speak my mother tongue) have our own calendar and in that calendar what is more important is the ‘star’ and its ‘weightage’ than a specific date in that month. When I am writing this, I tried to remember my birthday according to our calendar and I realized that that particular data is now stored in a bad sector.

Just another day, but

Not just another day; coz

An unbirthday gift

Comes just another day

We are ...?

"....we are not our body, mind or emotions. We are divine souls on a wondrous journey. We came from God, live in God and are evolving into oneness with God. We are, in truth, the Truth we seek. Aum."

-Dancing with Siva

Build Credit Fast ??

“Since you don’t have credit in this country….”

The leasing office lady went on..

“We asked you to keep a deposit based on….”

Read a letter from AT & T, the telecom giant

Since I have a commerce background too, the term credit is in my blood. That is how it is with anybody who was/is into accounting. There is no accounting without debits and credits. But what is this credit they are talking about?

Back in India, people hardly knew that there exists a credit bureau in our country. I had no idea that having a ‘credit’ has this importance here in U.S. till I actually faced the realities.

Here in the U.S., having a good credit has a lot to do with lots of things. I happened to see some ads by some people and firms who offer service to improve our credit. And some people gave some tips on building the credit. But to what extend these are true and how long will it take to build a good credit score?

What is a credit score, by the way? This is a three digit number, ranging from 300 to 850, arrived after doing some statistical analysis on our credit report; where a credit report is a report that shows the history of our past borrowings, repayment etc. There are bodies called credit bureaus who prepare these credit reports. U.S has three major bodies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. These organizations collect the information using many sources and tag this to a person’s Social Security Number. Since they collect information from different sources at different time, these reports may not show same score on a particular day.

The statistical method they use was originally developed by Bill Fair and Earl Isaac who then found the FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation). Some say there are other methods too, which I am not sure of. In fact, who knows how the data is analyzed and what formula they apply? At least I don’t know.

So, what is the fast and easy way to build a good credit history if we are new to this country? People might give many suggestions and we might find many people offering their service in this regard, but the reality is there is no easy way. Ask anybody here and the first thing they say is:

“Pay your bills on time”

What are the bills then? Rent, electricity, telephone bills, credit card bills…

To pay rent, we need to get a house for rent and for that we need a credit history (rent can be paid by cash or money orders too. So, in reality, if I am not wrong, rent and utility payments are not directly tracked by major bureaus, unless it’s not getting reported to other agencies like PRBC.). If there is no house to live in, from where does the electricity bill come from? We won’t get a post-paid mobile connection if we do not have a good credit history or else we need to keep a decent deposit varying from 500-1000 dollars depending on the type of phone and plan. None of the credit bureau bothers about the prepaid phones and the top ups we make. So what bill to pay?

So, is it all over?

Look at the entry gates to U.S or the Visas types . Tourists do not need any credit history. Those who are on business Visa are not eligible for Social Security and hence they are ruled out. Then what are left are these H-1B (work permit) holders, long term visa holders and students. H-1B holders already have a sponsor. If somebody can afford education here, they sure can afford some deposits and many a times they might even have some contacts here. Long term people already have their colleagues here. And from this environment arises our savior in the form of a ‘co-signer’.

Getting a co-signer with excellent credit history helps us jump those hurdles with ease. So, it’s not a big deal to start with. Then what are those fast track credit building methods?. Many of them are scams. Look at one scenario. Somebody suggested going for loans and repaying it. If we do not have good credit, first of all, the rate of interest would be high. Taking multiple loans and keeping the EMI small and extending the term might help us create more bills and easy payments. But if somebody thinks we can fool them that way, they are wrong. What are the factors they (credit bureaus) consider while calculating the score? Look at the weightage:

35%- payment history
30%- total debt outstanding
15%- length of time you've had credit
10%- types of credit
10%- new credit

Plus, one major criterion is our income. If we have a big pay check, we build the history fast. There is no fooling around here. Many a times it takes about 90 days for these agencies to track and update our payment history. So, is there any faster way for a good credit, without blocking our money?

Nope.

When AT&T asked for deposit, I felt like insulted coz I never was a defaulter in my life so far. But I know they did not mean to insult and that’s why they sent a personal letter telling that they got my credit info from so and so bureau and I can write to them. It takes some time and it all depends on our income, expenditure and repayment. It is said that it might take 6 months to 1 year to build a good credit.

All we need to do is to understand that this is how it works in this country and have some patience.