Sunday, January 20, 2008

Comeback Article: From the Northern Hemisphere

Hello Friends, folks and fans!


It took a while for me to get to reality after the overwhelming response to my previous blog. I was busy reading the fan mail. Please don’t look at the ‘dull’ comments section: there were many people who buzzed me on Gtalk to share the views on blog, Of course, I would like them to comment it on the blog so that I find the comments section a bit more exciting! (It is kind of weird to blame my readers for, I strongly know the consequences) Anyway, a lot of good things have happened since the last post and It would be a blatant lie for me to say that I did not have time to blog. (While on this point-of-excuse-for-not-blogging, It seems to be a common phenomenon with most of the bloggers who have started blogging 2-3 years ago when it became really popular.) But definitely, there was a certain time for 2-3 months in the past one year, when blogging seemed to be the last activity I would pursue. And later, I got used to it.


Now, I am in the United States of America. It’s been quite a while, in fact, exactly five months. It’s just been five months and hence it is too early for me to become nostalgic about everything back home although I sometimes imagine what it would have been if I stayed back in India….reading the Hindu paper and drinking the filter Coffee!

Discursive, Adj :

1.passing aimlessly from one subject to another; digressive; rambling.
2.proceeding by reasoning or argument rather than intuition.

(Yeah, while on this issue of the Hindu, off late I am reading a lot of criticism about the way the newspaper is showing uncharacteristic favoritism towards communists. Well, I hope that it is not true. All I have access to is, it’s lousy website where news is dumped in a corner with a vague flashing pattern going now and then. Although, With some effort I could get to the editorial section and read about the Russian IT revolution, Praveen swami’s concern for Glaciers melting in J&K, and a typical Nirmal-Sekhar article – More knowledgeable and enjoyable than the junky Google news. Felt reassured and don’t know what the fuss is all about! Clearly evident was the Chinese Obsession, though!)


Pick a sheet of paper, imagine that to be the map of USA and sprinkle some water on it with your finger tips. Carefully, mark all the wet points on the paper, which is where I have at least one cousin. Consequently, all through my childhood, I heard many stories about this country, in fact, so many that I felt that I already knew much of it before actually seeing it.

Fundamentally, Americans are very proud of their society. (This might also be true with few other countries, including France and England.) Before I go any further, it is very crucial to note that in US, social behavior of individuals is not affected by the kind of work that each individual is associated with. Many of us may feel that courtesy would follow currency, but it need not be! Well, anyway, more about US society later.


The hottest topic in US television right now (apart from weather and sports, of course) is the race to President. My views:

Reason number 12 why Clinton should not be the next US president: If she gets elected, and gets re-elected after five years, only two families would have ruled US for 3 decades. Well, who cares what I have to say. I cannot vote even if I wanted to, but still the presidential debates deeply interest me. After all, their tax structures, health care plans and foreign policies are relevant to me.


Well, she almost cried and consequently won the New Hampshire caucus, and probably that’s the comeback which might fetch her the democratic nomination. From the face of it, it appears to me that there is little difference among the policies of all the democratic candidates and that is why the debates have lacked the punch one would have wanted. But, Obama’s take on the policy structure that provides healthcare to all the people looks genuine to me. But again, as I said before, not much difference among all the other candidates. I became a big fan of Obama, he somehow makes me feel that he is the most genuine guy among the lot. I am ill-informed about the GOP candidates but with the little I read about them, Mitt Romney seemed fresh, energetic and sensible.


The whole point is this: How did Bush come through all this? Wasn’t he involved in all these debates before his race or is it just like the same drama back home where the words spoken don’t mean much. Well, I remember reading a spurious article which said that he managed these debates through a secret microphone. Anyway, the economy is staring at a possible Recession, Half of the world hates America, Oil prices are soaring, a grand welcome to the new Mr. President.

“It is easy to be the American President. Just find the army and point an area to shoot.” Homer Simpson

This is one of my best articles... Pointlessly touching all topics and wasting your not-so-valuable time. Yay!

No comments: