This book by Anurag Mathur is an unbiased and a little jaundiced look at American life seen through the eyes of a nerdy Indian student in the seventies who was suddenly dislocated from a comfortable and cocooned life in the small town he grew up in to the land of dreams..US.US was the Mecca of education at that time and still is. The culture shock that Gopal faces is so palpable and the letters that he writes to his brother are a laughter riot. It wasn’t a time of satellite TV with 300 channels at your fingertips. When he says”...

JAB ANDHERA HOTA HAI…..  I went out the other night to put up the banners for Elan, my grooming school and to my utter surprise I realized that my sleepy little Vijayawada has a bustling night life!! I have gone out of the house at night only to attend weddings or parties and that too is rare and hardly any lasts late into the night. I was sitting in the car and the workers were putting up the banners wherever I asked them to. While waiting for them to tie it up and move to the next place, I was...

             MANGOLICIOUS The only favourable thing about the scorching heat of summer is the luscious and golden yellow mango. Young and old alike just await the advent of the king of the fruits—Mango or  mangay as it originated from the Tamil lingua franca to sink their teeth in the delectable fruit They originated around 4000 years ago in South East Asia and are basically known as a tropical fruit. The first mango showers have fallen and the fruit will now ripen and be ready to tickle the palate of all the mango lovers across the country and beyond. The mango tree plays...

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2010 ORKUT-A VIRTUAL WORLD I was on the wrong side of 40 and received an invite from a young friend to an exotic virtual land called Orkut.I had never ever heard of--Orkut!! India with its billions seems to be hooked to dis user friendly site. I stepped into it with a lot of trepidation; being new to the virtual world I had my own qualms about dis unreal world. But den I have been one to swim and float rather dan sink without a whimper. Being an Aquarian, I joined da Aqua community where dey had many...

WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2010 RELIANCE IS UNRELIABLE BUT HAS A HEART!! I am a Reliance CDMA user and through experience I can say it has very few pros then cons for a user. The reliance to reliance free call for a certain sum is what makes me connected to my daughter. So it is a lifeline for me and I just about tolerate it. But today when I went to pay my bill, I had a pleasant surprise at the Reliance web world. Yes, it is a pain to pay the bill there as the server takes a long time...

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2009 A Solitary Reaper The end of 2009 is around the corner.Nearly a decade into the 21st century! Along with the time my emotions are also on a roller-coaster ride which never seems to stop.The ups have just been a few while the downs override. Am still trying to come to terms with being on my own but when the kids come down its PAAAARRTTYYYY time.November came and went and i didn't realise it as time flew when my son was visiting.He is a tall,handsome young man now and am really a proud mom.Sometimes I really wonder...

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2009  SAGA OF A TATKAL PASSPORT Ye hai India meri jaan! My friends said...So very true! My daughter had got an internship in Ukraine and needed a passport within a week. I was advised to go for the Tatkal scheme and asked to get my daughter back home. She studies in Delhi. Well, flew her down from Delhi, then she doesn’t get a ticket on the train or any bus. Late night she travels on an ordinary RTC bus in this blistering heat and gets home. In the morning we get ourselves to the commissioner’s office along...