You know you have a tech savvy for a mom..
- when she frowns on seeing you use Firefox browser and advises you to upgrade to Chrome
- when you have to log her out each time you login to Gmail or FB
- when you get your lunch reminders from her in an instant message when at work.
- when she plays Vishu Sahasranama on YouTube instead of on a DVD player.
- when she has a recipe blog!
- when she books her tickets by herself on the internet.
- when she insists that you switch on your webcam the moment she sees you online on Skype
- When she does not shy away from wearing the visitor tag around her neck when she visits my office.
- when she tells you how buggy FB is!
- When she is seen teaching her younger siblings how to stay invisible on Gmail
- when you CANNOT strut your computer knowledge in front of her out of fear that she would trivialize it because she already knows it!
- when she sends you a greeting from 123greetings.com.
- when she tells you that you need a faster processor.
- when she asks you for a Tablet PC for an anniversary gift!
You know you have a dad who is NOT as tech savvy :
- When he ridicules mom’s time spent at the computer.
- When he insists that you talk on phone instead of e-chatting.
- When mail only means snail mail to him.
- When he laughs each time you say “Wall” , since to him wall only means one thing.
- When he simply cant figure out why relatives who already commented on the pics on phone ,bothered leaving a comment on FB on the very same pics again!
- When he calls mom to login to HIS email to see the card his daughter sent HIM on HIS birthday.
- When he says he understands hardware but not software.
One Documentary and Two Movies in the last ten hours.
I am not going to be writing about the plots for any of the below, because they are all available on the net.
Taboo : 3/5
A documentary series from National Geographic Channel. Watched 2 episodes from Season 1, and found both of them quiet interesting. Made me feel we live in a weird world. Would still rate it only 3/5 because some of the customs they showed as facts were too hard for me to digest.
Dhobi Ghat: 2/5 ( 2, only for the style of narration)
I have no idea what Aamir meant when he said this movie is only for a certain audience. For sure, this one was not for me. Most of the time I kept wondering where the director was going with the movie.I thought there were lot of gaps which should have been filled (and could have been filled comfortably).
My Cousin Vinny : 4.5/5 : A must watch movie especially for the dialogues. I am still rating this as 4.5 because I definitely hope that there will be a movie better than this one. So I am reserving my 5 for that movie.
Other movies which I am planning to write reviews on sometime later are, Paranormal Activity, Saw 2, Cube , A tale of two sisters, Hyderabad Blues (both 1 and 2), and Dor. Absolutely loved these movies.
What to do at the Visa Interview (H4)
I am putting together a quick post just so that I don’t forget or miss out anything.This write up deals with info on what all documents one would need to carry for the H4 Visa interview. While there is lot of useful information on this already on the net, this post particularly deals with a special scenario wherein the primary applicant (whose dependent you are) has filed for the H1 transfer from one company to another company, and the transfer is still in progress. Explanation of whether to take a black & white (BW) or color print out is mentioned below. There is no hard and fast rule on the color, but it will make things easy from a verification point of view if certain docs are printed in color. The idea is to make it look more authentic and make the life of the interviewer easy.
This post assumes that the primary applicant has filed for a transfer of H1 from company ‘INT’ to company ‘APP’.
Here is the checklist: (Not all of these documents are mandatory, but if you go prepared with all these, it is highly unlikely that your Visa request will be rejected. Plus it doesn’t harm to be a bit more prepared, you see..so..
1)Your passport
2)A minimum of two photographs (‘US VISA’ photo format where your ears should be clearly visible)
3) Original marriage certificate.
4)Marriage photo album. (Total of 10 photos should be enough..Take photos showing Hindu dharma-related rituals — take couple of reception photos also …. anything to prove that the marriage actually happened )
5)Marriage invitation card of both the families.
6)Application visa fee original receipt issued by HDFC bank.(ORIGINAL — Green or White or whatever color — carry it)
File |
Description |
Color or B/W |
| DS-160.xps | Completed Non-immigration Visa application H4 visa application form. |
B/W |
| InterviewLetter | Interview letter that needs to be shown to the security at the entrance. |
B/W |
| PaySlips | Payslip of both INT and APP companies | Color |
| LCA | Signed certificate LCAs of both ‘APP’ and ‘INT’ | B/W |
| I-797C | This is H1B receipt notice. | B/W |
| Passport of the prinicipal applicant | The entire passport including blank pages. | B/W |
| I-94 Docs | Recent and previous I-94. The previous I-94 may not be asked but is just for back up, just in case they ask for it. | Color |
| Employment verification letter of INT and APP | This is a verification letter which the employers provide on request. It is not the same as the offer letter. | Color |
| Offer letters of both INT and APP | Offer letters | Color |
| I-129 + H-Classification Supplement |
Supporting docs of ‘INT’ | Color |
| Offer letters of both INT and APP | Offer letters | B/W |
| I-129 + H-Classification Supplement |
Supporting docs of ‘INT’ | B/W |
| I-797B | I cannot emphasise enough on the importance of this document. The current I-797B (for APP) would be in progress for you, per the scenario I described, and that is where APP’s I-797C comes in to picture (Note the “B” and “C” at the end of 797..they are two different documents. “C” is the receipt for filing. “B” is approval). |
B/W |
Thatz about it! There are various sites that have information on the kind of questions you will be asked during the interview.So I am skipping that portion here.Should you have any more doubts on the interview process in general or the documents in particular, do leave a comment. I shall get back to you at the earliest. I can assure you that H4 visa requests go through effortlessly if your docs are in place. The lady who interviewed me put me at ease and finished up the whole interview in less than 3 minutes. She winded up the interview saying my VISA will be dispatched to me within a week.GOD bless her, and good luck to you! .
Tamil New Year
Tamilians consider 14th of April every year as their new year. Considering it wasnt a year since my MILs death last April, we hadn’t celebrated it then.So I was looking forward to Apr 14th this year. However since Kannan isn’t in town, I wasn’t really sure if I could give it my best and I generally don’t like compromises on the religious front. 13th April was a hectic day in the office and I reached home really tired. Had a lot of todos at home for the next day. Was wondering where to start from. I decided I’l start off with cleaning the oil lamps as that happened to be the most tedious task. I went into the kitchen to get the scrubber and suddenly remembered that I should not be using the same to clean the lamps, the concept being the kitchen scrubber had already been used to clean vessels, so the same cant be used to clean up anything related to GOD. So I decided to go and pick a new scrubber and a dish washer soap from a shop nearby. Picked up a lot of flowers also on the way, for the next day. Came back home and applied a liberal quantity of the cleaning liquid on the oil smeared lamps and decided to leave them that way for some time before washing them off. In the meanwhile I thought I’l catch up with some forums that I am extra active on these days because of a new journey that I have embarked on recently. Nothing like sharing things with people in the same boat, you see. But after all the rigorous typing that I did, I was hardly left with any energy to work at home..Just then my brother’s wife called me to check if I needed anything for the next day. Since my hubby isn’t here, the idea was that my brother, and his wife would stay at our place on the Tamil new year and we would all celebrate the festival toegther. That was some relief, because otherwise the thought of making puja delicacies for me alone at home wasn’t very exciting. So I quickly gave her a list of things and requested her to pick them all for the two of us, for the next day..She readily agreed and must have reached home in like an hour.The thought of doing all this together with someone who can match up your energy levels is in itself very exciting. Soon we decided to divide tasks between the two of us.. .She chose to start off with decorating the entrance with mango leaves while I chose to decorate the pooja mandap with Rangoli..I realized I picked up the wrong task..so hurriedly cleaned up the mess I created and redid the whole thing with rangoli moulds this time..Turned out beautiful I must say..
Before tying up the mango leaves outside my SIL(sister in law) asked me if the artificial leaves that were already hanging outside were not enough..I was supposed to be knowing the answer since I was elder 
..Dint want to misguide her though and so called up mom to double check with her..My mom’s theory was artificial leaves were ok only if you din’t manage to get the real ones..Luckily we had already bought mango leaves, so we decided to stick to the custom..But I must say I love the way my mom bends rules for me every now and then..though I keep telling her not to do so, since as I said I don’t like religious compromises..There were some more rituals that were to be followed for the new year that included applying haldi kumkum on a nice clean mirror and tying up a gold chain around it, placing a thali full of uncooked rice and uncooked dal, along with a mango and notes of various denominations..When I was a child I remember my grandma used to neatly deck up a few 10 rupee notes, some 100 rupee notes ..the ritual was to see the thali first thing in the morning on the day of new year…after that she would offer to let the children of the house pick how much ever money they wanted to..I still remember how I would request (read force) my granny to start off with me before going to the other cousins and how I would pick away all the 100 rupee notes before anyone else did..LOL..btw my granny used to be extra partial towards me..she still is! So there was no question of her not acceding to my request..;)
Coming back to my story, we finished all the things that we had to do on the new year eve by around 1230 in the night. I don’t even remember when I dozed off after that. The next day we got up around 6AM. As the ritual demanded went and saw the thali and GOD first thing after getting up. Was wondering if I could go catch up on some sleep again because I dint have a proper sleep last night..Called up my mom , hurriedly greeted her and dad and checked with mom if it was ok to sleep for some more time, which she vehemently denied..Her theory was I could have slept slightly longer but going back to sleep after getting up on a festival day was a strict no no..So I tried really hard to keep my eyes wide open and started playing some divine songs to get myself off my sleep..that helped..The next challenge was to do up the home without a domestic help..because my maid was on leave that day..Supposedly she wanted to go to her hometown to get a voter’s ID..As much as I was tempted to ask her to stay back saying it wasn’t important, I decided not to, realizing social responsibility ..I anyway don’t vote..But why refrain someone else who wants to? So I just let her go..In about half an hour I would have called mom again to check with her if sweeping alone was enough or mopping was compulsory..She said “mopping inst compulsory considering your present health condition..Just make sure to sweep all the rooms and see if you can find an alternate maid for today alone even if it is just for sweeping.”. I replied” Mom please don’t tell me things considering my present situation..if something has to be done it has to be done..So if mopping is compulsory I’ll do it or get it done..Don’t worry”. She said it wasn’t..Relieved I started doing the other chores..washed some vessels for 10 mins took an half an hour break, called up mom to check if the kitchen slab and the gas stove had to be washed..was hoping to hear a no but she was like “Dint you already do it? You should have”..It was then that I remembered her having told me a dozen times the previous day, that I had to..I quickly hung up the phone saying I’ll do it then and managed to clean up the slab also..Finally my cook came over and cooked the offerings that had to be made..this included vadas, kheer, and some chutney, while I cooked rice and dal and got everything else in place before I could offer all these to GOD. Just when I placed the dal before the puja mandap my SIL asks me “Didi do we need to add salt to Dal?” I laughed as much as I could, NOT because I knew the answer but because I found the question funny and sensible at the same time..Called up mom yet again, put the speaker on and asked her if salt needs to be added to which she said “Itz ok..GOD will adjust”…both me and my SIL had a hearty laugh over what my mom said, and we exclaimed in unison “MOM!?!”.. Mom reassured us then that it wasn’t needed, and we finally decided to leave the dal that way..Here I MUST add that I love the enthu this girl shows in doing things the right way, despite the fact that she is a Gujju and is new to the Iyer household. . And like I said my energy levels double on seeing someone with a matching wavelength. Coming back to my story, it must have been like 1030 by the time we finished all this and we both had to rush to our respective offices..Barely had the time to take some quick pics..
Finally I called up my driver and asked him to pick me..Must have reached office around 11 and was already waiting for the evening to leave office..PHEW! Tired soul I was that day, who couldn’t even afford a power nap in between, because there is a belief that all the good you do in the morning on the festival days will not get counted if you sleep any other part of the day except at night..So managed to keep myself awake till 9…Dint even have the energy to watch Uttaran..something that I never give up otherwise…Don’t even know when I fell asleep…Long day I must say, but definitely a day that I thoroughly enjoyed, as I felt I did things to my satisfaction.
Note: I just realized this post turned out longer than I wanted it to..Kya karen..Aadat se majboor ..But on a serious note, I am letting myself be as elaborate only for some more days..after that I have decided to keep my conversations (be it posts/face to face talks/ IMs) shorter..which means my replies would be in the ratio of 1:1 as against the 10:1 it is now..LOL
Valentine’s day!
On this Valentine’s day, I thought of coming up with a post titled “Why I still love you!” on the lines of my previous post. But I gave up the idea because I thought I will never be able to end the post. So something else struck me which is captured very beautifully in the following quote I came across somewhere.
“Last night I looked up and matched each star with a reason why I love you; I was doing great, until I ran out of stars….”
I still thought perhaps I can get more creative and so recorded a song in my own voice as a dedication to my DH (dear hubby) on this valentine’s day. Happy Valentine’s day Kannan, and thanks for making every day a Valentine’s day for me!!
Comedy Of Errors!
This happened last Friday when I had to make a business call to Raji (name changed), an acquaintance who is an entrepreneur.The lady wasn’t reachable, and she seemed to be out of station. So I tried calling an alternate number that she had mentioned in her profile, which she said belonged to her partner (Chaitanya). I spoke to her partner in length on this business requirement. We exchanged a couple of ideas on one of our common goals and on how we could get a certain thing started, without having to quit our present place of work. Seemed quiet interesting, more so because I always enjoy discussions of this kind.
An excerpt of how we ended up our call:
Chaitanya (Raji’s partner) : Let us meet up to discuss this better Sudha.
I : Oh yes , we should! It was a pleasure talking to you. Would love to work with you on this. (I reserve the last two sentences strictly for ladies, and there is no exception to this rule. It is kind of difficult to explain why).
We hung up after this.
I was waiting for Kannan to get back home to tell him about this very interesting chat. Told him that while the opportunity was anyway nice, the lady in particular sounded very pleasant and positive, and seemed nice to work with. I insisted Kannan to join me for this meeting as this was to happen on a weekend, to which he willingly agreed.
After Raji got back, she gave me a ring saying that her partner had briefed her on the chat that the two of us had.
An excerpt of our telephonic chat:
Raji: Hi Sudha. Chaitanya(name changed) told me that the two of you spoke last evening, and also mentioned that you could meet. Can the three of us meet then, may be at coffee day in Koramangala?
I: Oh yes! I am longing to meet you. Chaitanya came up with some interesting ideas. Good reason for me to meet you folks. Coffee day works for me.
Raji: Cool! Alright then, Saturday 3PM, Coffee Day Koramangala. See you there.
Soon after this call, I got a mail from Chaitanya which read:
Dear Sudha,
“Trust all is well. Thank you so very much for sharing your profile and it was indeed a great pleasure talking to you yesterday.
Raji also told me about the fact that you mistook me for a lady and we could not help laughing about it. Anyway, let us touch base again on Saturday, to concertize our plans. My wife Raji and I certainly look forward to meet you. “
Now, I am not one of those people who take such incidents lightly. I just cannot convey in words the degree of embarrassment I felt after this incident. I sheepishly replied to the email, bccing Kannan:
“Oops! Obviously embarrassed about the blunder..My apologies.. “
What a nice hair massage!
This post is written to highlight the little things that people in the hospitality industry should follow. I just got back from a nearby parlor (Letz call it ‘second’ parlor) after a hair massage. Before going to this parlor, I went to another parlor..(say ‘first’ parlor) where I had an experience that psyched the hell outta me. Here is in direct speech the conversation between the lady at the first parlor and me.
I enter the parlor..
Lady (Smiles): Hi madam , how may I help you?
I : Hi..(Gentle smile). I need a hair massage.
Lady: Ok..Give me two minutes. Let me heat up the oil.
I: Sure. Which oil do you use by the way?
Lady: Coconut Oil.
I: Don’t you have almond oil?
Lady: I do. But it will cost you more.
I: How much more?
Lady: Thirty rupees more.
I: That is fine. Please use Almond oil.
Lady: Sure.
I: By the way I have heard Olive oil is even better. What do you think? (I was actually checking how knowledgeable the lady was. I think it is important for the person attending to you, to know her basics right..Especially in a field like this).
Lady: Yes.I have olive oil also and can apply that if you want. (Disappointing answer because anyone with proper experience in this field would have known that olive oil actually leads to bad hair fall, quiet contrary to what is generally believed).
I.(Gently smile) : No No..Doesn’t matter. Almond oil will do.
Lady heats up the oil (instead of warming it)..
In the meanwhile…
Lady: What do you do?
I: I work.
Lady: Software? (I am not comfortable with questions of this kind, because they lead me to think that there is a hidden intention behind them)
I: Hmm…Something like it.
Lady: Where are you put up?
I : XYZ place.
Lady: Own house or rented house?
I (Gimme a break man! Why would you wanna know this?) : Rented. (I lied to her about this because I thought it was unnecessary for her to know the actual detail).
Lady: What does your husband do?
I (This is the limit): I told her what he does and added : I am running late. Can we please hurry up? ( to avoid more questions).
Lady: Sure madam.
The lady hurriedly gets into the other room to check if the oil is ready. ..comes back in 5 minutes with the oil bowl and attempts brushing my hair first. At this stage you can actually make out how good the beautician is. Simple rule: If the beautician’s hand smells of food that she had during her lunch, it is about time to take a ‘U’ turn and go back home. You should never hesitate to request them to wash their hands thoroughly with a hand wash before they touch your hair. Another tip that you can use to differentiate genuine beauticians from fake ones is by the way they move their fingers around your hair. Your hair should be treated gently. Rubbing your scalp in circular motions with finger nails is a strict no, however good it feels. Fingers alone should be used. No scratching the hair. Only gentle soft strokes. Quickly moving on to the rest of what happened..
The lady returns with an oil bowl and pours a few drops of hot oil directly onto my scalp, instead of using presoaked cotton.
I (horrified) : Eeks!!! What the hell! It burns!
Lady: How come? I agree the oil is slightly hotter than usual, but your scalp seems to be sensitive too.
I(angered) : Oh really?
Another customer to the beautician: You remember, last time I also told you this.
I wanted to ask the other customer what brought her back then, but just chose to empathize with her. Agreed that none of us is perfect, and as human beings we all make mistakes. This hardly matters if you make mistakes unknowingly. But it irks me when people make mistakes knowingly just because they think that they can take you for granted.
Lady: I am sorry madam. I really did not know it was this hot.
I (straight face) : Weren’t you supposed to have tested it then? (Kept myself under control, but how man! My scalp was literally burning!)
Lady: That’s what I did.
I: Tested it on whom? On me?
Lady: Sorry madam. Please give it sometime. It’ll get ok. I’ll reapply after five minutes.
I (Not wanting to be rude): Thatz ok. No problems! Take care the next time. Right now, I don’t think I want to get the massage done anymore, because it really burns. Shall try making it to your parlor again, may be tomorrow.
Lady: Alright madam. Good night. Sorry again!
I: Doesn’t matter.(Half Smile) Good night.
Despite the experience in the first parlor, I badly wanted to get the hair massage done, nonetheless. So walked into another parlor nearby. I actually do not know which parlors are good and which ones are bad, because I generally get this done at home by a lady who offers home service. Unfortunately she has left the city leaving me with very little choices…especially considering I don’t like to go too far for a parlor!). So very promptly I got into the second parlor. I guess my experience in the first place was a blessing in disguise. The hair massage I had at the second place actually put me to sleep. This is what you call a perfect massage! Spick and span parlor. Aromatic surroundings. Squeaky clean massage!. What more could I have asked for!?. I happily thanked her, gave her a liberal dose of appreciation, asked for her visiting card and said I’ll spread the good word around.
After I got back home, the first thing I did was, to have pinned up her visiting card on my apartment’s notice board. After all, good things should be rewarded right?
Realizations….
Today we had gone to my favorite restaurant, Mark Boulevard for a teamlunch and it was a good luncheon..I believe that each time we interact with a person , we learn something or the other. Some people teach us what to be like, and from some others we learn what NOT to be like..;) Either ways there is a learning involved.
Of late, I have been coming across lots of good examples ..people at the top who who would have got to the top because of talent, but who continue to stay at the top, mainly because they all have one thing in common..the right attitude and modesty. And I must say that I have been thoroughly impressed meeting some of these people.
Take for instance, today afternoon when we set out for lunch. My manager had arranged for a transport..basically a car that had been given to him for use during his 5 day stay here. Soon after I and my colleague got in, my manager introduced the two of us to the driver and introduced the driver to each of us…Now this is what I call being courteous. I am sure the driver would have felt really touched.. How many of us actually do this? Knowingly or unknowingly we take small people for granted. We ignore their very existence… today for some reason something dawned on me…the realization that every man has the right to be respected. I feel by default people should be given respect..and then depending on how they behave you could choose whether you want to retain that respect for them or not. Just like how one should never ever feel inferior to anyone, by the same rule, one should never consider oneself superior to anyone..May be I am getting a bit too philosophical..I donno wat is happening to me these days…..I see myself more content with things…I hardly feel irritated, irrespective of whatever happens…I am beginning to feel this is just a sign of aging..the under-30-syndrome.. LOL..
Quotes ReLived…
The following is a list of simple sayings that we come across in our day to day life but there is a lot of truth attached to these sayings.
a)Free advices are of no value. Refrain from giving/taking them.
b)You reap what you sow. I am happy about this and I hope everyone reaps what they sow
c)Fair players always win. Values take people far.And this is NO understatement .It IS meant to be taken seriously.
d)Good things in life don’t come easily.Things that come easily don’t last long.
e)Hard work ALWAYS pays off and pays off well. There are no exceptions to this rule. There is nothing called luck.
f)Have lot of acquaintances but chosen few friends.
g)Make hay while the sun shines. (Corporate Equivalent : Make money while the market is good.
h)Never take things for granted….your name, your pay check, your work , the little appreciations that you get, and everything else…
i)Pride goes beyond fall but a pleasant demeanor always rewards.
j)More often than not,when you get down the ladder, you come across the very same people you came across on your way up.
k)There are places where faking ignorance helps. (You can interpret this whichever way you want).
l)Attach lot of importance to your time. Indulge in constructive discussions and most importantly, be open to differences..
m) Last but not the least, all that happens, happens for the good. There are no exceptions to this rule also.
While most of the above has been said by great people, there is another saying by a great person, which is : “Stop being self centred. When you only talk about yourself, you end up boring the rest”.
Author : Your’s Truly.
Current Mood : Joyful.
Reason: In the posts to come..For now all I can do is quote Paul Cohelo…”When you really want something to happen , the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true“. Life is beautiful and Kannan continues to be my lucky charm.
My Songs
Today I am posting the link to some of my many songs recorded by Kannan. The following link contains a set of songs that Kannan recorded today. This is like a starter and I am sure I have a long way to go. :-)
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