What exactly is this culture shock thing!

This is a sincere attempt to get into the serious writing space. If you don’t like this, please feel free to let me know about it. I will try to refrain form getting into such ventures in future (this is no promise!).

Everytime I take my mother to a mall in Bangalore during the weekend, and I feel like taking a set of blinders, because I know what comments are waiting in the wings, whenever she gets a glimpse of the dressing sense on the streets, theaters, restaurants, just about anywhere.

I too feel a little uncomfortable, when I see smokes emanating from cigarettes held in those hands, which would do much better holding a bunch of flowers. It really is a weird uncomfortable feeling.

Now the point is, all these are things that are acceptable in different parts of the world, and hence is not bad or wrong, when looked at in isolation. But, what creates the deafening silence in the atmosphere is when it is looked at in conjunction with the overall environment.

When you find these things in a place where, it is not really warranted, not sure about the dressing sense, but definitely with respect to smoking or its fully compatible affiliates, there is no compelling reason for it, except mere snobbishness, it is tough to accept it as a matter of fact.

This precisely is culture shock, as I see it. Readers may have differing views, and are most welcome to comment on this.

I am not playing the saint here, but what I am trying to convey here is that, each one has a certain level of acceptance capacity, and the superset of the majority’s tolerance is the over all domain within which the boundaries of culture are defined. When a certain behavioural trend tries to push these boundaries by testing new waters, that is the reason for the culture shock factor to creep in.

Does this mean that doing what you like best is not the way to live. Not really. As long as the attributes that you are using to differentiae yourself from the rest, or generally accepted norms, is going to add value to your or the lives around you, nobody would complain, and just like common perception that is a summation of individual perception, these changes when collected together from people across the spectrum would lift the society one level higher, and that is genuine evolution.

Societies love to cope up with evolution, but are right in their own ways to disapprove regressive, unwarranted behavioural trends. Shock absorbers are not the need of the hour, corrective thinking is!

Pournami in Melbourne

First things first….. Please don’t think that I am writing as if Pournami (full moon day) falls only in Melbourne, and that Pournami in Chennai is any less beautiful.

The point is that, I have not had the time to enjoy the wonderful sight in Bangalore, or Chennai, thanks to the unkind working hours (sathyamaa solren!! ).

What makes the Pournami sight stunning here was the bald autumn struck trees in the foreground with the full moon as the backdrop.

I have tried to capture the captivating sight on my camera, but with very limited success, I must admit. The USP of the collection is the way nature has been combined with the city traffic (you are right.. I am trying desperately to sell this), and don’t miss the last one which is a result of the author’s sheer wizardry, which I am sure is going to be talked about as the latest breakthrough in still photography.

Have fun……

Arun

Furnace to Freezer in 18 hours

Disclaimer:This note contains thoughts of a first time overseas traveller.Hence, This may not interest frequent fliers and NRIs.


Arun sweating profusely in Chennai is a sight people close to me are quite used to. I have the capacity sweat sitting under a fan. Given the amount of excitement, the fear of excess baggage being carried, and the climate helping in no small measure ensured that I was perspiring more than usual. Both my bros were not used to this, andpity my younger one, I shouted at him, for asking me to cool down!!! My sincere apologies to him.

My sincere thanks to my elder bro who traveled for about twenty hours to see me off, for just about an hour!! Vaanathaipola would be proud of this!!

The Bappi Lahiri costume that I chose was a mixture of desire and compulsion. Desire, as I wanted to wear my favourite Elements Shirt (Green Flouroscent… the typical Arun), but the suade jacket over that, was my first signs of fear of what was in store down under. Moreover, one more dress on me meant, one dress less in my baggage! It was only in the last one week, that I realized, why film kaatify (show off), their newly purchased full suits and blazers…

It was a rather short and sweet meeting at the airport with the family, as I initially thought that I can come out to the main lounge as far as I have not gone through the security check. But to my disappointment, I was not allowd outside, as I had got my Boarding Pass. So we could just take three- four snaps together, and it was a rather weird feeling. To be very honest, it was the most unique feeling.. not knowing whether to be happy tat you are traveling abroad or whether to feel sad that you are going to stay away from your family for a long period of time. There have been a few occasion in my life, where I discover or rediscover that I am still the senti senti school kid, though I seem to come across as a very nonchalant, casual person to others.


The flight from Chennai to Bangkok, departed half an hour late, but this did not have any effect on the final arrival time at the destination, as the flight for the Bangkok - Melbourne wing was a different one.

The flight reached Bangkok early the next day morning, and the snap that you see are of a tired (tired of taking rest!!) Arun, obliging the paparazzi… J ….

The first sight of the firangs, was at the Bangkok Airport, as lot of tourists were returning back to their hometowns in Australia.
The flight left on time from Bnagkok, and it was a long long journey, almost 10 hours non stop, till we reached Sydney. I thought this would be a normal stopover, where we could just sit back in our seats, andonce the Sydney folks get down, we start again! But to our dismay, all of us had to alight, and go through the security check, and then gaet back again.

I did have my mini anxious moments when I declared that I carried medicines, some food stuffs and an old pair of shoes. I thought this was just a piece of information, but I was informed that I need to declare these things specifically to the customs but, somehow I could manage to convince that these were insignificant pieces of my luggage and is not a matter of concern at all. That was the beginning and end of the only little niggle in the entire journey.

The best part of the journey was the cab ride from the Melbourne. My friend hee reassured me that a personcan get into the cab by placing complete reliance on the driver, and there would be no “meterku mele, one and a half meter”, etc etc. I just had to give him the address, and he dropped me without any problem.

The weather was just too cool (literally!).It had no sympathy for visitors from hot and humid cities, like Chennai.

Oh!! Did I miss out on the food aspect… It was the most imaginative cuisine that I have ever tasted. I am yet to figure out what was offered to me on the flight. The only ways that I could convince myself that I was indeed eating vegetarian, was to take a look at what my neighboring passenger was having. He was eating something different, from what I was having.

The teetodler that I am (if the once in two months beer intake can be excused), I actually think I missed the generous servings of alcoholic beverages. The stewardesses were most hospitable when they were serving alcohol, that it looked as though, they didn’t enjoy the company of saadhu passengers like me.

I had a reasonably good dinner the night that I landed, thanks to Prem, my senior at work, who had left some rice, pickle, curds, paruppu podi, for the hungry, or rather, the hungry for South Indian food guy.

I took a good nights (and mornings) rest and after I woke up at 12:30 in the afternoon, I had rice with Raajma Masala for lunch. Again thanks to my roomies.

Later, we went to Myers Shopping Mall, which is in the Central Business District (or CBD as it is called), or nearabouts, and then the Big W, which, I believe is the equivalent of Walmart in this part of the world. Tram was the preferred mode of transport that day.

But having groomed the window shopper in me to perfection, I didn’t spend a dollar there. We finally landed up doing the actual shopping in some other super market, and also went to the customary Indian stores.

Then from Monday morning it was office time, and the first day was total bench time, no work at all. I did a few other eventful activities like opening a bank account, hunt for apartments and so on. The best part is that we walk to office, and since the weather is very kind to us, we don’t feel that we cross about 100 blocks.

Tuesday and Wednesday have gone by uneventful, except to the extent of getting trained in cooking (eligible spinsters watch out for this space in future!!)
This place seems to be the best to get involved in sporting activities, and I need to get into the groove soon..

More to come shortly……

Bye for now,
Arun

Farewell Snaps

Doing what I know best in the snaps!!

Left in the Lurch

I have been trying to figure who exactly is sitting in the Opposition in our Esteemed Parliament for quite some time now.

It is in one sense, good to see a group attending Parilament regularly, not just to cheer their speaker at office, but also doing some serious stuff on opposing every issue that the Congress has been grappling with.
If BJP decides to attend Parlaiment, the issues that would be picked up would all be lessons learnt in our History Books with respect to Pre independence era, with no relevance to today - Veer Savarkar, Ram Janma Bhoomi, Mohd Ali Jinnah just to name a few.

Just before you think that I am all for the Left, let me just clarify that I am only comparing the Devil with Deep Sea.

Both Left and the BJP have a batallion of well educated, well seasoned politicians, but what really strangles both the parties is the dilemma, whether to pursue their respective core idelogies, or to concentrate on what the need of the hour are. I think in this, the Left is marginaaly ahead, as they have dismantled the very thought of reforms from their minds.

What really baffles me, is the way Left manages to talk something and do something diametrically opposite, in their den in West Bengal with phenomenal ease.

All that the Left can do is oppose every reform, calling anti this and anti that, and start explaining that Bengal is different from rest of India, in the most unconvincing manner.

There is this old joke that, if Pro is opposite for con, then is progress opposite of Congress?? But all that I can say is for the moment, Left is the opposite of what is right!

Cheers

Welcome!!

Hi,

Welcome to my blog!!Well, this is just a small step to share with you all, what I think of almost everthing that touches my life, and that could be of atleast some miniscule interest to you all.

So, meet you soon, on this very page, and hope to continue the rapport going!

Chers,
Arun