Ah, so I promised myself to blog more.,but my last post was in September 2009.  My sincere apologies to myself . This should not be happening again.

2010 had been a great year! I did a lot of things which I never expected to do. I learnt life is awesome and is, as always, full of surprises. Bring it on 2011!

Oh btw,  I got my records straight; no more fnu ! Yay!

So, on a very random thought, I wonder what I will be doing the same time next year! I wish to document that and I have this blog to my rescue

Cheers!

-RNB

Part-2

The first week was at the usual best,exploring the places around the university. I also did my passport verification by that time. And here again, I had my name in my I-94 differ from my passport( the same usual FNU stuff-refer earlier post for more details) and I was asked to rush to the nearest Immigration office at the earliest. I later realized from the immigration office that this problem existed with almost all the South-Indian students heading to US for Masters. The officer was kind enough to hurl abuses at people with name like mine, and I was kind enough to hear everything she got to say. I could do nothing since, she had my passpost . Somehow, I was happier by the fact that I was not the only fish caught in the net and I also later realized there were a dozen people in my university who had the same problem. There is in-fact an International Advisor at the university who specializes in these kind of “FNU” problems . Yay!

All said and done, It looks like the tag “FNU” is bound to follow me throughout my stay at US. My way through this will  be possible only when I change my name in my passport(when my passport expires, which is highly improbable at the moment) or when I get back to India for a visit(which is not possible in the near future). The advisor was kind enough to issue letter asking anybody concerned not to include FNU anywhere, though my official records will carry the tag.

But a matter that gives me a great comfort- All the people here can pronounce my name properly and FNU is just an extra bit that tags along with my name. So, unlike the Chinese/Korean/Japanese, I don’t need to name my self with an English name.I am any day Ravi Nitin Balajee where as a guy named Xing Yo Zang( no offence, I dont know anybody with that name in USC and if so,its purely co-incidental) will call himself some Roger or Martin or Joseph just because people cannot spell his name .  But I don’t think Indians are far away from this “pronounce-my-name-properly” syndrome. Probably I was lucky enough.

A sample of names of my fellow Indian friends and their pronunciation as done in US-

Archana is pronounced as Or-kan-aaa

Ranjini is pronounced as Ran-genie (‘ran’ as in “she ran away with a  genie “)

Prasanna is pronounced as Pra-san-ha

Venkatesh is pronounced as When-cut-yesh

Subramaniyam is pronounced  as Soob-raa-maan-eeee-yam

and the list goes on..

(All the names above are not co-incidental and is meant to be done on purpose )

But,its pure fun here to watch the Americans pronounce the Indian/Chinese names

Life’s good with these comedies around.

More to be continued later!

Cheers

RNB

Part-1

Its two full months since my last blog, and now I am back again.

Just a small recap of everything that happened within the two months.

To start with, I left India on the 27th July, 2009 to pursue my master’s in Electrical Engineering at University of Southern California- Los Angeles.  With all the great hopes I began yet an another student life. My Big thanks to all my family members and my friends who came to see me off at the Chennai Airport on a rainy day!

A small glimpse of all who made it.

One of the most unforgettable moments!-L to R: Gopal, Nikhil, Lax, Pugazh and myself

Posing for a photo!

Oh ya, I was busy answering calls :P

another pic please.

My well wishers!-I owe them a lot!

A perfect family pic :)

My Friends from SVCE.

Thus began my great journey and I landed at Tom Bradly International Airport, Los Angeles on the 28th afternoon. Everything went on fine and I cleared the customs check without any hurdles and I came out of the airport faster than expected. Now, I had to call my  uncle who was supposed to pick me up. I used a help from a local who was kind enough to lend me his phone to call my uncle. When I was done, this chap expected me to do a favor for him- Donate money for the orphanage he was “supposedly” canvassing. Thankfully enough, my uncle came to my rescue from that embarrassing situation. I later realized that the guy was bluffing and was trying to lure all the possible foreigners to donate.

I stayed with my uncle for a couple of days and then moved into my current apartment near the university with another roommate  on the 1st August. The moving-in was another story by itself.

More stories to come:

-Immigration saga

-Courses and Professors

-Dr.Kalam’s visit

and others!

until then,

Cheers

RNB

Oh my friend,
How I will miss you,
Life is just unfair
we part in a few days.

You have been with me
From the very beginning,
When I saw the first rays from the sun.

You won,
When my mom tried keeping you away from me.
You always manage to find me.

I have insulted you,
Abused you,
Hit you in a fit of rage,
Hurled curses at you,
For being the God’s worst creation.
Yet, you stood by them all, unnerved.
No doubt you loved me,
For your love was unconditional.

When I jumped with joy,
Or cried in sorrow,
You stood by me watching.
I never understood you.
I hated you.
But you never left me.

You love the rains,
And hate the sun.
You leave suddenly,
Without bidding Good-bye.
Only to return, as fast as you left.

You fill up my senses,
You fill up my home,
You are Omni-present,
You need no home,
For my home is open to you,
Every evening when you return.
And I learnt to live with you.

You were my first girl-friend.
I never cared for you.
I only plotted ways to part.
But you never left me.

I know I will miss you.
You will also miss me.
But, you will never get a sweeter blood as mine.
Yes, you blood-sucking rascal.
You, the Mosquito.

RNB

Isnt a name used to just identify a person? Who the hell had the brains to split the name as first and last name?? I only wish I can lay my hands on him. Lucky rascal. He escaped.

So, in American terms, the first of your name becomes the last name and the last of your name becomes the first name.  And the last name is what is used to address you in rest of the world. (Puh. I had to read this sentence thrice to get it right only in my last try )

We, in India, are used to in putting up our long family names in the last name field and the real name comes in the first name field in any form we fill.

Now, in my case, I only have a first name and no last name as in my passport. Everything went on fine, until I started filling up my application forms for the universities in States. That’s when the real trouble started. Since I had no last name, the university people had no name to address me. I had to undergo a long formality of explaining them my name by sending them a copy of my passport. I could’nt proceedwith my application without a last name. So, those guys finally decided to call me by my first name and my last name became FNU(read First Name Unknown ????? ).

The trouble did not end there. Once my admission was confirmed, I had to create an online profile for myself . The system admin said, for cases like mine, the first name becomes my last name and FNU becomes my first name. Once done, the system auto generates an email ID (which cannot be altered under any circumstances)which is a combination of my so-called new first and last names. Tadaaah. my name became rfnu(????). Thats when I realised that the system is comfortable using my first name rather than my new last name.

I not only ended up confusing my name in the process , I m technically a guy with no name .  I will have to now brainstrom and squeeze my brain to the maximum to know my name again.  Puh.Why me???

But, I am happy being a Tamilian. I wonder what would be the case with people from Andhra who include all the names right from their forefathers to their native place in their name . I am particularly interested in knowing what Blaaze did.

Ha ha. Its gonna be fun.

Btw, what’s my name???:D

Cheers

No, I am not trying to create a divide here. Its just my viewpoint.

We now find a lot of political partys coming up with ideologies pertaining only to a certain sect or community. They demand a certain percentage of reservation for their people, keep fighting for it, contest elections ultimately to win and boycott the Assembly session when it is actually needed.

The question is, is it really needed and do we need it?

Yes, there has been a lot of debate on reservations anf oppressions . But why dont we realise that after 60 yrs of our independence, we still dont share the feeling that we are Indians first? The answer is still a mystery.

And so has been the case with bribery and corruption. Years before, Corruption was  considered to be a ‘dirty’ word. Now, its a way of life.

But, when will this all end? Everything that goes down has to definitely come up.

To paraphrase an highly optimistic friend of my dad- He said “the day is about a decade or two away from us. But it will definitely come. Let us give in to this current system,Let reservation be given to all classes of the society, Let bribery happen. It will continue for sometime.Until there is nothing more to loot.Then a new generation of people devoid of any differences, will arise with an heightened feeling of patriotism, bubbling with energy and ideas . That is the point of liberation.”

Sounds good and hope it happens.

Cheers RNB

With the launch of this blog about 5 days back and with a little over 100 hits, I can call this an achievement. But, interestingly. I have about 20 followers in my almost dormant twitter account. And I find that really surprising .

Before I begin with my wishlist, I would like to recollect this small incident in life which I will term as THE TURNING POINT.

The Turning point.

My Bdays (like everybody’s) has always been full of surprises, fun and frolic. Every year, the day had always begun with some sweet surprise, be it from family or friends,with gifts ranging from simple key chains, colourful shirts, cute memorabilias to costly mobile phones. Thanks to everyone who had taken pains to make the day memorable.I still treasure them all. Thanks again.

Everything till then had been purely materialistic, satisfying my need for the day. I was happy with that and life went on the same for 19 yrs, until I got a very surprising gift last year from this good friend of mine named Ramesh.(There is more about this wonderful guy which I will reserve for future posts) Yes, his gift was late (about 2 full months after my Bday) but, it was wonderfully timed. It was immediately after a “costly” lunch a group of friends had with another good friend of mine for his Bday.

Ramesh took us to an orphanage.

Thanks for that gift, buddy.

Well, people do donate money for really worthwhile social causes on memorable occasions such as B’days and anniversaries. And hats off to them. This gift was more or less the same. But the stark contrast between having had fun on a costly treat and the fun these little orphaned children had when they recieved chocolates was simply moving.

The lesson was learnt. We dont hesitate to spend hundreds and thousands on treats just to make friends happy. But, there is nothing like a smile from a child(who has no one to call as his relative in this earth) when he receives a simple chocolate. That smile is the greatest gift of all. That is the only gift I am looking for this year.

So begins my ‘chota’ Wishlist for my Bday.

I will be a bit more frank from here on. I have had a lot of shirts, perfumes, show-case pieces etc as my Bday gifts. And more of these will not help me a lot now  Simply because I am not going to be in this city for long and I will not be able to enjoy or appreciate them. Moreover, It might not be possible for me to take them along with me when I leave. Afterall, gifts are meant for Bday baby rite?

Here goes my request.

For those of you who are planning to gift me this year (even if it is for formality sake),I am giving you ‘the’ idea for gift and I hope it solves the confusion in you. I would appreciate if you can put the money you are planning to spend on me on an envelope and give it to me. I intend to donate this to a needy orphanage. I would be happy even if it is 1 Rupee because, that money is used for a good cause. This request is purely at your will and I am not persuading.

Hope I got the point across. Thanks in advance. Do mail me if needed.

Cheers Have fun.

RNB

Well, I am a previledged owner of multiple blogs. I keep creating profiles and it ends there. Now, this is my sincere and  serious attempt to get into this “esteemed” blogger community.So, If you are reading this blog, my Hi to you!

I have not decided on any particular theme or topic to blog. It will be anything under the sun that “pops” up in my mind.

Just to give the push, I will begin with a small wishlist for the “auspicious” occasion of my forthcoming B’Day. Then, probably, I ll write about all my friends who I think in some way or the other taught me valuable lessons in life. My sincere apologies if I miss out a quite number of them. I m sure, they are in my mind if not in this blog.

Thats it for now. Hopefully, I keep this blog going with everything I got to think and say.

Cheers, RNB.