Thursday, March 18, 2010

In the last stretch

Raleigh, NC

I am ready for a life change. There is so much more I want to explore and experience in life. All that will start come May when I quit my current job. Before that, I have to finish a few projects I am working on. My co-workers and managers have been good to me over the last 3 and a half years. The way I see it, I owe it them to finish the projects I am working on before I leave.

I am working harder the last 3 months at my job that I ever did in the last 3 and a half years. I feel stressed out and by the end of the day exhausted. I wake up the next morning and have to push myself hard to do my best. It's hard to motivate yourself when you know that you will soon stop doing what you are doing.

I can't wait for May when I can kick back and relax on the beach in Rio De Janeiro with a Caipirinha in my hand.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Media matters

Raleigh, NC

I have Time Warner cable in my house with 70 odd channels. After returning home, I switch on the TV to catch up with the news. One common characteristic of all the 3 major news channels (Fox, MSNBC and CNN) is their intellectual bankruptcy. Opinion masquerades as news, with each channel giving a different spin on the happenings of the day. Debates are nothing more than shouting matches with each political contributor sticking to his talking points and shouting his message across.

In 8 years of living in the US, very rarely have I found incisive, logical and informed analysis of the happenings in the world on these 24 hour news channels. World news? Forget it. Look for that someplace else. In my conversation with people around me, I notice a general ignorance of the geography, history and current events of the rest of the world. I wonder to what extent the American media is responsible for that.



Of all the Indian and American newspapers I read, I would rate Indian Express as the best. Shekhar Gupta, the editor of Indian Express is one of my favorite columnists. I spent this weekend catching up with all his recent columns. He offers an excellent analysis of the US Af-Pak policy and the happenings in the Indian sub-continent. Some of his columns can be found here Shekhar Gupta Columns

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Passport update

Raleigh, NC

I received my new passport from the Indian embassy in Washington DC. I am delighted that I got the passport in time to apply for the tourist visa to Brazil and the student visa to France. With an Indian passport, travelling is a pain. There are very few countries which provide visa free travel to holders of Indian passport.




The Henley Visa Restrictions Index is a global ranking of countries according to travel freedom their citizens enjoy. Denmark leads the list with 157 countries providing visa free travel to it's citizens. India ranks 75 on the list with only 37 countries providing visa free travel to it's citizens. Afghanistan is at the bottom of the list with 22 countries providing visa free travel to it's citizens.

The complete list can be accessed at Henley Visa Restrictions Index

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Junk mail

Raleigh, NC

Since last week, I have been checking my mail box twice a day. I found new credit card offers, balance transfer offers on existing ones, coupons for grocery stores, catalog for online apparel websites, postcards from real estate brokers, premium increase notifications from insurance companies and other things which I will not find useful in a million years.



I open the mailbox with enthusiasm and expectations and they get shattered in the barrage of junk mail. What I am waiting for is my passport which I sent to the Indian embassy in Washington DC. I have heard horror stories about the passport renewal process in the Indian embassies and I am hoping that things go smoothly for me. Once I get the passport back, I can go ahead and apply for the tourist visa to Brazil and student visa to France.

I am going to go check my mailbox again now :(

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Travel plans update

Raleigh, NC

I will leaving the USA in May and head to Sao Paulo and then to Rio de Janeiro. In Rio, I will be taking a 4 week Portuguese course at Casa Do Caminho Language center. The school is located just 3 blocks away from the Ipanema beach!



The classes are from Monday to Friday 9am-12p.m. In the afternoons I can explore more of Rio and take short trips out of Rio on the weekends. End of June I will be flying to Hyderabad, India through Dubai. That will be a long flight. 15 hours from Sao Paulo to Dubai and additional 4 hours of flying to Hyderabad. July and August, I will spend some time with my family and travel to the Himalayas in the North. I will be leaving Hyderabad for HEC Paris, the 1st of September.