Britain as America's Blind follower

During World War II facing incessant Nazi bombing British PM Churchill was desperate to get America involved. As a part of his please America diplomacy he famously said " We are common people separated by a common language (English). " He managed to convince Roosevelt but the American Congress refused to bulge. Americans wont get involved until Pearl harbor and the rest is history. The reverse is happening now. The British Parliament refused to toe American line against the wish of James Cameron seen as servitude to Obama. Britain has long since lost its world power status. In Odia there is saying "KARPURA UDIJAICHI, KHALI KANA PADICHI", the smell of camphor is gone only cloth remains. It means gone are those glory days. Britain has been desperately trying to piggyback on America to stay in limelight. Maggie Thatcher and John Major had some semblance of independence.Tony Blair started acting like a CHAMCHA (obsequious follower) of his American counterpart. He reminded me of RAM BHAKT HANUMAN (the famous obedient devotee of Ram who blindly followed the diktat of his Lord).  Britishers are learning to come out of what we call in Odia LANGUDA DHARI CHALIBA or in Hindi PUCHH PAKADKE CHAKANA (both meaning tailgating) mode. At last an independent British stand vis-a-vis USA after a long time.

American Whiskey getting more popular

Heard the other day on NPR news  that the American Whiskey is getting more popular world over.  Jack Daniel recently announced that for the first time in history its international sale exceeded its domestic counterpart. JD just announced to invest $100 millions to expand its Tennessee facilities to cater to this new demand. Americans are not big fans of Whiskey and those who drink they rarely look beyond the typical American varieties (Puritans find it strange that Americans mix coke rather than Club Soda in Whiskey,  Jack and Coke is a common order in a typical bar here). The smoky, Oaky taste of American Whiskies is unique catering to the local taste. Nice to know that it is expanding its horizon.

Labor Day weekend

Long weekend approaches with the upcoming Monday as the holiday due to Labor Day. Unlike most (probably the rest) of the world who celebrate May 1st as the Labor day, Americans mark it on the 1st Monday of September. And unlike most who will be travelling or vacationing I will be laboring at work this labor day. Have a great long weekend to my friends in American and a great weekend to the rest.

Common sense is not so common

The thing about commonsense is that it is not so common. This morning I was unable to operate the mouse of my laptop for a minute only to discover that the mouse was not connected to the device after all (it was not a wireless mouse). I salute the person who said IT folks lack commonsense. I stood vindicated this morning.

A tribute to His Maestro's voice. RIP the classic Odia singer of classical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giyTMqWABEc

JUGAAD and DALAAL.

Arguably the reign of Emperor Harshvardhan's in North India and  Raja Krishnadev Ray's in South is regarded as the Golden era in our Indian History. There was hardly any hiatus between the rulers and the ruled. The kings mostly full filled their RAJDHARMA ( duty of a King) and their subjects were by and large satisfied. Legend goes that many kings notably Harshvardhan and Krishnadev took disguise and mingled incognito with local populace to have a first hand knowledge of their subject's plight. Then came the Afghans, Mughals and British. They were aliens from another land who came to India attracted by its wealth. Gradually they became the ruler of the territory they occupied and had least affinity to the natives. Since they were not familiar with the local culture and lingo they succinctly cultivated a class of DALAALs (middlemen-cum-touts) who became the conduit between the rulers and the ruled. The Persian concept of MANSABDARI system of appointing serfs who delegated the administration to more serfs further down the hierarchy came into existence. It became the perfect breeding ground for DALALs who like Dracula became the bloodsucking parasites to the commoners and boot licking servitude to their masters at the same breath. Unsurprisingly  it gave birth to the CHAMCHAGIRI (obsequiousness) culture. Even The Mughal emperor Akbar though a relatively benevolent ruler was not immune to this scourge.  Later on William Bentinck, the British Governor General credited with curbing evils like SATI (forcible burning of widow in with her husband's pyre), Child marriage and THUGEE (Highway robbers) tried to bridge the gap. But his successors did not follow his foot step. Britishers ruled us using this DALAL class who readily acted as informers which make the task of former a whole lot easier . The culture of JUGAAD (arrangement) slowly became well entrenched in the milieu and thrives till date.  Quoting a dialogue by Anupam Kher from HUM " We have three classes of people ATYACHAARI (the oppressor), KRANTIKAARI (the protestor) and INKE FAIDA LETE UTHATE HUE HAMARA JAISA VYAPARI(taking advantage of them are the DALALS like us)".  It is said that Mohammad Tughlaq, the eccentric ruler of Delhi left Delhi for Daulatabad after being sick and tired of these DALALs. It is no better today.

Awesome Customer service at Chick Fillet

Yesterday I ordered a Grilled chicken sandwich at a local Chick Fillet ( a popular Chicken sandwich fast food restaurant prevalent in Southern USA). After I reached home and opened it was a different variety with bacon on top. We don't eat bacon. I went back to the restaurant with the receipt. The store manager heard me. Without even looking at the receipt he immediately handed me a sandwich which I intended to order and was inadvertently swapped with somebody Else's. He tendered his apology for the inconvenience caused and wished me "have a nice day Sir, please see us again". Hats off to the Store manager and the restaurant for the awesome customer service I got. It made my day.