September 29, 2006

Dosa man of NYC !!

It was a beautiful warm thursday afternoon here in NYC.I felt like eating a Dosai, but did not feel like going again to those expensive Indian restaurants.I just remembered reading elsewhere about Mr.Thirukumaran Kandasamy-Known as Dosa man of NYC and decided to check him out. I got off at West 4th street (On A train) and walked couple of blocks down to reach this road side dosai vendor @Junction of Washington square south /Sullivan street.Thiru is probably the ONLY road side dosai vendor in the continental USA. I waited for about 30 minutes in the line for my turn as the queue was quite long. Thiru was totally busy, juggling between phone orders-batter and the customers-A true one man show ! I placed an order for a Pondicherry Masala Dosai. It costed just $5 and it was YUMMY and i relished every bit of it !!
..................
ThiruKumar prepares fresh Dosai's-you name it-he has it-and serves them with chutney and sambar. Ask for his special colored chutney's too(tamarind/red chilli/green chilli). His stall is a boon to NewYork university students-Not just for desi students-but others aswell !

So next time when you plan a trip down to NYC-DONOT FORGET TO CHECK OUT THIRU'S DOSAI JOINT !.

BUSINESS HOURS: 11AM-4PM ;MON-FRI.
CONTACT : NYdosas@yahoo.com or (917) 710-2092.

................










"THY " tales....

I always think why few people here face difficulty in reading Indian names. Today at work, i was discussing a research paper with my colleague. The authors of that paper were Saraswathy Ramamoorthy & Judith Myers. I just asked my colleague if she could read the name of the authors.
Uh,as expected she fumbled a bit(lot !!) to pronounce the first author's name correctly. And she quipped-"THY" -is seen in both the first/last names..LOL :-)

Its no wonder we get to read jokes like Anotherman Superman !!

Btw,Did you know that i introduce myself as Pablo to not so important people ?!


!!

I was calling my mobile network carrier center yesterday to renew my contract with them.

Here is the verbatim b/w me and the Customer service Rep :

CsR : Sir, you qualify for a phone upgrade .Which brand would you prefer ? (She rattled out various brand/model names of phones )

I : I'd prefer a Nokia anytime..

CsR : Oh great ! Is there a reason why Indians prefer Nokia ?

I : ;-)

............
Given the length of my surname and the vowels in it (my accent aswell), she would have guessed I'm an Indian and Secondly, she seems to have an impression that Indians prefer Nokia phones over others !!
............

Is that true ? Are Nokia phones the best sellers in India ?

September 23, 2006

New York Nagaram- 3

நியுயார்க் நகரம் உறங்கும் நேரம்....
காரும் திருடனும்....

I-pod போனதே....
GPS-யும் போனதே....

ஒரு கண்ணாடி ஜன்னலை உடைத்தது...
கொடுமை கொடுமையோ கொடுமை கொடுமையோ...











P.S. My previous posts on similar incidents Here and Here :=(

This car usually gets parked in the garage,but on that friday night we planned to go out for dinner and parked it on the street for a while. The devices were kept in the dash board , but somehow the thief got the whiff of whats inside the car and made his booty :-( .

September 20, 2006

National School Backpack Awareness Day !!

National School Backpack Awareness Day is observed on September 20th of every year !



Backpack Facts :

* More than 40 million students in the United States carry school backpacks.

* More than 7,000 emergency room visits in 2001 were related to backpacks and book bags. Approximately half of those injuries occurred in children 5 to 14 years old.

* It is recommended that a loaded backpacks weigh no more than 15% (about one-sixth) of a student's body weight (for a student weighing 100 pounds, this means that the backpack should weigh no more than 15 pounds).

* The average student carries a backpack weighing almost one fourth of his or her body weight. Three out of 10 students typically carry backpacks weighing up to one third of their body weight at least once a week.

* In one study with American students, 6 out of 10 students ages 9 to 20 reported chronic back pain related to heavy backpacks. Among students who carried backpacks weighing 15% of their body weight or less, only 2 in 10 reported pain.

* The way backpacks are worn has an impact. Lower positioning of the backpack approximates the body's center of gravity and has the least effect on posture.

* In a study on the effect of backpack education on student behavior and health, nearly 8 out of 10 middle-school students who changed how they loaded and wore their backpacks reported less pain and strain in their backs, necks, and shoulders.


Read more :

AOTA news link

Pack It Light, Wear It Right

Few suggestions
-----------

Wish we had someone during our school days to tell about the effects of carrying those "book loads on our backs " !

September 15, 2006

Blogging for dollars !!

It's not just a hobby - some small sites are making big money. Here's how to turn your passion into an online empire.

Read more !!

Would this concept be applicable to Indian scenario ?

Blogging for INR :-)

September 13, 2006

New York Nagaram-2

This guy has done a decent job in showing the "REAL NEW YORK NAGARAM" ! Take a look :-)
லாஜிக் கரீட்டா இருக்கு பா..

September 12, 2006

New York Nagaram ?

Can anyone find New York Nagaram in this song? I could only see few graphics of downtown Manhattan skyline in the opening shot.Apart from that,the rest of the song seems to have been picturized in some Canadian/European city . Then,why the hell does this song mention NewYork Nagaram blah blah...

What a treatment to the gullible kollywood fans by the director,Mr.Krishna !! :-(



Syam commented that logical reasonings doesnot apply to Tamil movies. Well, here is my argument.
The word New-York contains 2 syllables.
The other european cities like Mu-nich,Zu-rich,Lon-don,ho-lland are also bi syllabic words.Why not just use them in the lyric? Our Maestro ARR would definitely not have problems composing a rhyming tune even for these cities. இந்த ஊர்களின் பெயர்களில் மெட்டு போடுங்க....ரிதம் வரும்..வரனும் !!

All that am worried for Periasamy and Chinnasami in Paapapatti village in TamilNadu ,where they dont have access to RTI to verify the authenticity of the locales shown in the song
:-(

September 11, 2006

In search of a barber shop....

Hello Desi dudes :Here is a question for Y'all !
When was the last time you walked out of a barber shop-satisfied-after your hair cut?
.....
I just thought of sharing few of my experiences in search of a barber shop.
Yesterday,on a tipoff from one of our friends about a desi barber in Little India neighborhood in NY ,I and my roommate decided to venture out to get a hair cut from him. I should say, yesterday's haircut was one of the best cuts i've ever had in this country -A desi touch !

Flashback : Its been 40+ months here, and i would have visited atleast 20+ barber shops in and around my residence - at the rate of atleast once in every two months -in search of a perfect barber that would cut MY hair as per my preferences.Ahem ! None did their job to my satisfaction until i met this desi guy yesterday !!

At some places you are most unwelcome,and the way a whitey looks at a brownie would make one very uncomfortable. Earlier, I have got some unusually zigzag cuts from these fellas :-( All you do is try to explain the way you need the hair to be cut or just point to the hair design chart -tell him to cut the hair -as in Pic 7 using a No.2 blade fitted to a hair cutting machine .He would just run that machine up and down until your hair is cut.Yeah..Thats HAIR CUT !:-O .I felt like cursing them..போங்கடா மயி....களா !

Once i went to a black barber .He commented " Yo man, i ain't know how to cut yo' straight hair". Can't expect more from him :-( .

And once to a spanish guy : I returned as a முட்டை மண்டையன் !

Once again to an Oriental/Chinese guy : He doesnot know English and I don't know Chinese ..Let what may come..தலைய குடுத்து உட்கார வேண்டியது தான் !

Finally,tracked down a South asian -a Bangladeshi guy :He could not understand my English or Hindi ,and i donot know Bangla .Yet we are Brownies..

Even I visited a posh salon where i was photographed - the figure fed into the computer and matched with various hair styles. Again NOT too good result .I ended up swiping my credit card at that salon. (And i don't use cards for small transactions !!)

Yesterday,this barber ,a Telugu guy was all ears to my requests. What more,he used Scissors and a Comb to cut the hair.And he took much time to do his work meticulously.I really loved the way the hair was cut,and it looked good on me.
May be this guy knew the business moolah : Customer's satisfaction !!He did deserve a fat tip from me:-)
We finally felt that the 20 mile trip was worth commuting , paying tolls across boroughs,and paid parking at a lot,and the time that was spent for this wholesome adventure was totally satisfying :-)

This morning, a couple of my office (female) colleagues commented :"Prabhu ,You got a nice hair cut !"

Oh Yeah ! That made my day ,and i was happy !.

Hell with that frozen spinach ;-(

அரைக்கீரை,முளைக்கீரை,முருங்கை,பசலை,பொன்னங்கன்னிகீரை,தண்டுக்கீரை,புளிக்கீரை,
வெந்தையக்கீரை...(add more...)





Worse reminiscence of yesteryears....;-(

September 10, 2006

!!

Blog Camp !

I watched the proceedings of the blogcamp,Chennai thru' their webcast. Though i lost my sleep during those couple of nights, it was indeed an amazing experience to listen to the presenters from the other side of the globe. Few presentations by Scott Carney ,Atul Chitnis , Sharad Haksar, Rajesh Shetty were quite interesting even to a non-techie person like me. I should appreciate the organizers of this camp. King Kiruba RULES ! :-)

However, as Vatsan said ,blogging has a long long way to go in India.

I Salute you, Mr .PM

"I have strayed into politics by sheer accident "

Our PM has spoken his heart out.He is one of the most educated person in the Indian politics amidst those ill mannered,uneducated politicians.

A look at our PM's resume would reveal his academic brilliance.
....................................................

Resume of Dr. Manmohan Singh - Prime Minister of India

Resume of Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, and the original Architect of the Economic Liberlization.

Born on: September 26, 1932
Place of Birth: Gah (West Punjab)
Father: Gurmukh Singh
Mother: Amrit Kaur
Married on: September 14, 1958
Wife: Gursharan Kaur
Children: Three daughters


EDUCATION:


Stood first in BA (Hons), Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1952; stood first in MA (Economics), Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1954; Wright's Prize for distinguished performance at St John's College, Cambridge, 1955 and 1957; Wrenbury scholar, University of Cambridge, 1957; DPhil (Oxford), DLitt (Honoris Causa); PhD thesis on India's export competitiveness

OCCUPATION:

Professor (Senior lecturer, Economics, 1957-59; Reader, Economics, 1959-63; Professor, Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1963-65; Professor, International Trade, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, 1969-71; Honorary professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1976 and Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, 1996) and Civil Servant

POSITIONS:

1971-72: Economic advisor, ministry of foreign trade

1972-76: Chief economic advisor, ministry of finance

1976-80: Director, Reserve Bank of India; Director, Industrial Development Bank of India; Alternate governor for India, Board of governors, Asian Development Bank; Alternate governor for India, Board of governors, IBRD

November 1976 - April 1980: Secretary, ministry of finance (department of economic affairs); Member, finance, Atomic Energy Commission; Member, finance, Space Commission

April 1980 - September 15, 1982 : Member-secretary, Planning Commission

1980-83: Chairman, India Committee of the Indo-Japan joint study committee September 16, 1982 - January 14, 1985: Governor, Reserve Bank of India

1982-85: Alternate Governor for India, Board of governors, International Monetary Fund

1983-84: Member, economic advisory council to the Prime Minister

1985: President, Indian Economic Association

January 15, 1985 - July 31, 1987 : Deputy chairman, Planning Commission

August 1, 1987 - November 10, 1990 : Secretary-general and commissioner, south commission, Geneva

December 10, 1990 - March 14, 1991 : Advisor to the Prime Minister on economic affairs

March 15, 1991 - June 20, 1991 : Chairman, UGC

June 21, 1991 - May 15, 1996 : Union finance minister

October 1991: Elected to Rajya Sabha from Assam on Congress ticket

June 1995: Re-elected to Rajya Sabha

1996 onwards: Member, Consultative Committee for the ministry of finance

August 1, 1996 - December 4, 1997 : Chairman, Parliamentary standing committee on commerce

March 21, 1998 onwards: Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha

June 5, 1998 onwards: Member, committee on finance

August 13, 1998 onwards: Member, committee on rules

Aug 1998-2001: Member, committee of privileges 2000 onwards: Member, executive committee, Indian parliamentary group

June 2001: Re-elected to Rajya Sabha

Aug 2001 onwards: Member, general purposes committee

BOOKS:

India's Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth ? Clarendon Press, Oxford University, 1964; also published a large number of articles in various economic journals.


OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS:


Adam Smith Prize, University of Cambridge, 1956


Padma Vibhushan, 1987


Euromoney Award, Finance Minister of the Year, 1993;


Asiamoney Award, Finance Minister of the Year for Asia, 1993 and 1994


INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS:


1966: Economic Affairs Officer

1966-69: Chief, financing for trade section, UNCTAD

1972-74: Deputy for India in IMF Committee of Twenty on International Monetary Reform

1977-79: Indian delegation to Aid-India Consortium Meetings

1980-82: Indo-Soviet joint planning group meeting

1982: Indo-Soviet monitoring group meeting

1993: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Cyprus 1993: Human Rights World Conference, Vienna


RECREATION:


Gymkhana Club, New Delhi; Life Member, India International Centre, New Delhi

September 08, 2006

At my office......

We had a farewell party at our office this evening for Mr.T,our head HR. He is leaving US for now to his home country,Argentina. Mr.T ,being an immigrant himself was very understanding to FOB's like us when we first joined the company.During the one-on-one's with him,he spoke to us (few Indian colleagues) about the South American cultural values,family bondings which seemed similar to our Indian values.One of the reason's that he prefers to go back was for his daughter,and he would want to raise her with more family members around.
I totally agree with him,for being an immigrant a compromise on relationship is hard to digest.

But ,







the life goes on.......

September 03, 2006

Ewwwwww.......

Did anyone watch this episode of America's got talent on NBC ?

Watch this YOGI perform before the audience and do share your thoughts in my comments section :-(






Prasanna has got a related post here !

September 02, 2006

New York Craze....

There has been so much craze about NYC in Bolly/Kollywood movies in the recent days. Few of these recent flicks [Kal Ho Naa Ho ,KANK and Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu ] has been shot in this city.And the most commonly seen locations are Downtown/Midtown Manhattan.Its kind of getting repetitive and hope our movie directors explore different locations for future film shootings !



The locations seen in this song are : Renaissance Hotel @ Times square, Most locations on 42nd street, Midtown Manhattan,Grand central terminal, Brooklyn bridge, (dinner @ ferry) ,Down town skyline,Chelsea pier and Staten Island ferry .


Btw, Why was Duane Reade shown in a shot in this song ? Did they sponsor for the song ? Who knows ! :-)

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