I have been a lazy bum(some people think I always am) for the last few days and that’s the reason there haven’t been as many postings. Well the only that has happened is that I finally made it to Chicago and I really loved that place … I don’t know if it was because I met a few of my old friends or because the city’s drivers reminded me of India. Driving in that crowded snow covered city brought back memories of my hometown of chennai. The crazy drivers … The narrow lanes … people just going haywire … constructions all over the place … I was in heaven. It was as if I was back in Chennai and only difference was that it was covered with snow. Now practically there is a one in a million chance of that happening. But hey I have the right to dream.

I had gone down there to attend the graduation ceremony of a friend. Which gave me the opportunity to see a couple of my old friends. Nanda and I go way back to middle school. We were soccer buddies in high School and hadn’t seen each other in 3 years. The other friend was Vidhya a student at UIC and as free spirited as they come. Honorable mention to her cool roommates.

It was breath of fresh air to talk in Tamil after quite sometime with all the slang that only the college students would know. Spending the last 2 and half months in social isolation it was a welcome change to break free albeit for a brief moment.

Now that I have rattled off on about Chicago, here is a bit of fact … I have put 7000 miles on my baby(car) in the last two months. And I am not likely to stop anytime in the future. Next stop is Dallas if everything goes well.

I just love driving in this country. Its so much fun and its so easy. If it was India I would be spending a lot of time in just finding the route. The Indian equivalent of a yahoo map or mapquest is the pedestrian on the road. And more often than not, if you ask two people for directions, you would get pointed in two different and opposite directions.

Long distance driving is not common place in India atleast till I was there. But my family was an exception. From the time we bought our first car we have made atleast one long distance drive per month. My parents liked the flexibility that a car provided compared to a bus or a train; My dad could maintain his mobility in the villages while my mom could visit her brother everymonth. We kids just didn’t care as long as we didn’t have to do our homework.

The best drive I have had so far is through Virginia and North Carolina. Those rolling mountains … man they are a sight to see.

Young traveler

“Who lives sees much. Who travels sees more.” ~ Arab proverb

No I don’t mean the 5K run I meant the colour of the skin. I watched the movie “Remember the titans” (pretty good movie too!) and it set me off thinking about what’s so different about us all, does the skin color or social status change our species name? Last time I checked we all still belonged to the genus homo and species sapiens. This problem is not specific to one country or region. You have it in the developed countries as well as the most under developed. In the developed countries the irony is that people who indulge in it are highly educated and practice it behind doors while in the under developed countries, it is more in your face.

On hindsight it is suprising that segregation survived in the most powerful nation in the world till the 60s, what’s more frightening is that it still survives in some parts of the largest democracy (India). These facts make the genocide going on in Sudan by the Arab government on the tribal rebels and vice versa as a no brainer.

From what I have seen of such people is that they have very low self esteem and try to build up their confidence by putting down the others. Hitler made it famous in the 20th century and it still continues in the deserts and jungles of Sudan. In between there were other genocides like the hutus in Burundi and various other place. For more news on such drastic form of race clashes and ethnic cleansing visit the genocide site

In countries like India the clash has been more between the classes than the races. (India has a special name for the class system its called the caste system). Usually you have the upper class intimidating the lower class who in turn are supported by naxalite groups to attack the upper class. Its a vicious circle that repeats itself over and over again. These conflicts also extend to religious persecution in places like Indonesia and Iran.

In the developed countries racism is practiced in the name of freedom of speech. The following sound file is racially explicit and listeners discretion is advocated. The person who did this was just suspended for a day and is back in the air. Racism is not the prerogative of any particular community or race. It is still followed by a large number of people in different walks of life. These particular offenders were suspended for a week, maybe these were gimmicks to gain some brownie points but they were definitely not in good taste or of proper judgment. I always felt that education was the great equalizer but some people just go through school but never get an education.

I had hoped that the disaster like the tsunami would set aside people’s prejudices but I was sadly mistaken. The social and ethnic differences were still seen in the relief camps; It was between the government and the rebels in Indonesia; between the Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka and between the various castes in India.

To make a difference we just need to start with the person in the mirror and lets hope that there is still hope for this world.

“Once you have glimpsed the world as it might be, it is impossible to live anymore complacent in the world as it is.”