Valley Chai

f.o.b stands for ‘fresh off boat’, mostly used by a.b.c.d (american born confused desi’s) to describe desi travelers/students that make their first trips to the u.s. it’s considered a derogatory term, but it doesn’t bother me. i was a f.o.b once.

i have come across quite a few folks that have the telltale f.o.b signs. the following dressing tips not only ensure you don’t look like one, but they are in general good practices in professional appearance.

one of my bosses in the u.s. gave me these tips, so let me pass them on.

• wear a belt, especially when you tuck your shirt in. if possible, match the color of you belt with that of your shoes. get a brown belt and a black belt, you’d be fine. make sure that buckle is not that oversize cowboy stuff.
• don’t pair trousers with tennis shoes. it’s doing both injustice., nothing tells you are a geek than this pairing.
• wear black or brown shoes. and keep them polished! the shoes tend to get dirty on indian roads/offices, but the level of shine that is normal in the u.s. is much higher than your daily typical dust-off that is considered ‘chalta‘ in india.
• don’t wear white sox with leather shoes.. and try to match the sox color with either the shoe color or the pants color.
• if you are going to wear a jacket, don’t go for the over-the-top jacket styling. like a double-breasted suits. keep your suit very plain, very uneventful. and make sure it fits. if it’s too loose or too tight better not even wear one.
• getting a colorful tie is always risky. you might end up looking like a door-to-door salesman.
• and please, lose those ‘clubby‘ shirts with tons of styling like large collars, big cuffs, shiny zing bang, etc. and stay away from those bright summer/autumn colors., at least in formal office settings, nobody is interested in the style statements.
• finally, don’t wear ‘outerwear’ jackets at work. if it’s cold, get a tee-shirt below your dress shirt, and if still required, get a sweater. don’t for heaven’s sake wear those rain jackets while working in your cubicle.

nothing like the image of a hot sexy bombshell to get a boxers’ juices flowing in the ring . If only every athlete has an offer like this, we’d be plush in gold!

like they say, vijender, keep your eye on the prize, bro.
 

Standing through the Independence Day 2008 celebration at IIM Bangalore, I was trying to recollect the last time I saw the Indian flag raised. Most likely it was sometime in IIT (1990-1994) Chennai.

This kind of function is one of those things I longed to be a part of for many years while I was in the Bay Area.

Functions like this are one of the rituals still left that connect you back to ‘the way things were’. The experience evoked a reflection on my NRI life. Oddly enough, less than 24 hours ago, my iPod picked up the title song from the movie ‘Swades’ on the shuffle play, while I was transiting thorough Hong Kong on my way back from the Bay Area.

Desis packed the shabby Naz cinema hall when the movie came out, most likely due to a strong sense of identity with with the story line: an NRI makes it big in the u.s, returns to India, and single-handedly uplifts a village. A messiah-style performance, set in a in a fairy-tale idyllic village that celebrates festivals with re-enactment of mythology, town hall functions, distribution of cheap sweets, the works.

The subliminal undercurrent among the NRI crowd has always been a mix of condescending patronage of everything Indian combined with a romantic view of a perfect life rich in culture and plush in comforts. I myself should probably plead guilty on both counts.

Once i returned to Bangalore, I chanced upon the movie on T.V., and watched it a second time. It’s as captivating as ever. With the benefit of first-hand view of the dual realities, my reaction this time was entirely different.

The sense of accomplishment and confidence that NRIs develop abroad is no different from the brimming self-assurance i see in my IIMB classmates. People in my age group have developed a can-do attitude that allows them the freedom to dream about what India *could* be. Not as an NRI or a non-NRI, but as any normal new-age professional.

The NRI backdrop in Swades merely provided a pre-text for employing a fresh pair of eyes, stretching the traditional horizons of possibility and took the courage to question everything one more time. These sentiments aren’t a monopoly of the NRIs. Everyone paying due respect to the flag today has no less daring an outlook.

There was a time when one such renaissance occurred. At that time, the Greatest NRI of All actually followed through on the instincts we all now have, and earned freedom for a nation, and taught the civility of non-violence for the world.

Who would be the new face of the second coming of India? If you were to write the New Indian Manifesto, what would it be?

a little trust, a ton of service, and one suffocating crowd after another.

it may be the widespread spend-culture, plethora of brands or may be my myopic view of the few places i frequent. as my professor at IIMB puts it, india has 350M middle-class population in india that can afford most of the good brands out there. and with GDP growth rate pegged at 9%, nobody is feeling bashful about spending what they earn.

and it shows. any decent retail outlet worth it’s food court is packed to the brim 24×7. i am not talking sunday afternoon packed. i am talking december 24th packed.

the seven-eleven shopping experience is supplanted by the neighborhood pharmacy or the ‘kirana’ stores. they stock amazing amount of merchandise in a very small place. just gotta ask him. if he doesn’t have it, he’ll get it to you by end of the day, devlivered to your door. no receipt, no sales tax. only thing missing is beer.

the regular groceries can also be bought via the safeway experience in outlets like spar supermarket and about 10 other clones. they just cost a lot more and have a nice overall experience., including the aforementioned long checkout lines. we indulge in it a few times. regardless of where you buy the fruits in particular are spectacular. they are fresh, ready to eat and totally delicious. i’ve discovered the true taste of fruits after coming here - they’re now my preferred mid-night snack.

as far as eating out goes, you have the now-familiar range of ultra-expensive to ultra-cheap. the breakfast stuff is best at the ‘darshini’ or ’sagar’ outlets. cheap, hot and pretty taste most of the time. i heard that women typically don’t go there. the city has all kinds of cuisine within a 20 min driving distance. you’d have to put up with some creative liberties with the authenticity of cuisines you expect. as they say here.. “swalpa adjust maadi”.

while looking for the furniture getting settled in, we pretty much went with the two kinds - the mythical shivaji nagar area (any auto fellow would know where it is) for the mid-range furniture. we got our guest bed set there. we shopped at lifestyle (at richmond soolay circle), @ home (near forum) and the home town (on outer ring road at marathahalli) for the living room furniture. pricey, i know. but if you want good looking furniture, you’d have to go to one of these places.

and speaking of door-step service, the “ironbox” man is awesome. he picks up the clothes, presses and delivers them back to you by evening.

all said and done, the best shopping experience is still with the vegetable vendor that comes calling punctually at 7am. he is polite, on time, reasonably priced, and you feel good supporting the hard-working man.

and finally some rules of thumb: don’t pay until someone asks you to pay and until you’ve received the goods in your hands. don’t give an advance for anything. for big ticket purchases, don’t be bashful to ask for discounts and deals. most good deals happen ‘off the books’, so don’t be anal about it. it’s part of the economy/culture. returns pretty much aren’t a norm. so feel free to open the boxes to inspect the goods before a purchase. for electrical items, the shop keeper even plugs in and demonstrates to you that it works before you buy. for many services, there isn’t a need to tip - but tip them.