Vandae Bharat Express

 I was on a business trip to Pondicherry Friday, and with direct flights being suspended by SpiceJet, the next option was to go to Madras (350 Km) and take a cab for 3 1/2 Hr journey. (Luckily the Mfg site is 25 km ahead of Pondy City en route, so you don't have city traffic hassle both ways). 

I tried the option of taking the train to Madras and the newly Introduced Vande Bharat Express to Madras. The train is an upgraded Shatabdi Express (4 1/4 hrs vs 5 1/2 for Shatabdi) but with a greater metal finish of coach,Silver white engine/coaches, similar to Shinkansen. It has better quality seats, Nice footrests, and Power supply at each seat.  First time in an Indian train, the doors close automatically so the thrill of leaning out of the train at 120Km/hr is gone. The internal doors also open and close automatically sensing passengers' movement. Also, the biggest improvement is the Toilets and looks like it is up there at last without the smell and dirt. Of course, there are a couple of support staff to clean the floor, and toilets constantly and I was bemused when dirt, and thrash kept appearing on floor. Are Indians so bad?? I expected a Paid WIFI and it was not there. Snacks are also sold for a price besides free 1 time snacks and that is a big improvement from Shatabdi. The snack was of good quality. 

Oh yes! As for Journey, the train's true Indian tradition was 110 min late at one time and ended up at Madras Central being 70 min late at 830pm. The consolation was seeing Kilometers still to go to Madras, as well as current speed, some memory of seeing the same at Shanghai Maglev.  (At one stage the driver hit speed of 135 Km/ hr) !!! Vandae Bhart is a good one to try one time for the experience! As the fare is close to the Airline fare (Rs1800 Exec Class vs Rs 2100 Airfare!). Yes, you have to put up with Narendra Modi appearing every 5 min flagging of the train!! hahahah!!! True to the train journey of the old days of the 80s I carried a Printed Book, and could do 50%!! 

India is way way behind for Bullet Trains or Eurostar but this is a very good beginning.! Oh Yes I won't mind paying another 50% more for a mobile free coach. The conversation jibber/  noise is just sickening one reason I would any day prefer air travel and stick to it! Oh yes, My First Shatabdi journey will linger more, as it was a game changer from 40 Km /hr to 80 Km/hr. (2000, I think, Bombay- Vapi). 

I took the Airway back home last night, and that flight too was an hour late reaching home at 1 am!! The biggest shock was the last 6km to Madras Airport, which took 70 min giving me anxious moments. My Driver Anbu told me he had never seen such a traffic jam in his 15 years of life driving Madras. The mystery was unraveled this morning as it was due to the arrival of the President of India Ms. Draupadi Murmu into the city.. (No Wonder!). 

Golden Gate rereading after 42 years! 

My policy of no food between 2 to 7pm made me carry it home!! it is lying now at kitchen! hahhah! I had the perishables at 10 pm with Dinner as starters! 

Enroute to South TN, try this Restaurant 99Km from Madras, it is an Amazingly, very different type of food (millet, Red Rice etc in breakfast items!). This is being run by an Airforce veteran. 

Regards

Karthik

6th Aug 2023. 

Podcast I listen to

I have been listening to Podcasts since 2007 January. (I got an 80Gb Ipod at Bangkok Airport) I used to download and sync podcasts to the device back in those days. 

People were curious about what Podcasts I listen to keep myself current. 

Here are the list as of August 2023. I listen to about 3 hrs of podcasts. (@3X Speed thro OVERCAST) podcast app. 

Happy listening.

Karthik. 

PS: Uploads are the MP3 file I personally upload to listen like Audio Books, Youtube videos -Audio converted...(Especially Interviews etc.). 

My Ashes Moments down the lane..! (1975-2023).

 Ashes Moments down the lane.. The only cricket matches I follow; rest all given up! 

What an incredible finish, England like last time in 2019, tied 2-2. Australia like last time won toss, lost the match chasing! 2-2 is a fair result. (England should have won 3-2, but that is cricket)
My no electronic devices after 7pm policy, prevented me from watching live this ashes series, and I catch up on highlights at 430am post cup of coffee.! I watch few balls on the internet (Sky Sports UK)  with no Ad nonsense stuff from Indian broadcasters! This must have been my lowest following of the Ashes cricket series with less than 100 balls watched/ tracked.. Shows how much things take less priority as you age. (1981 we use to wake up 5am for 530am Ashes start or awake till 12 Midnight in England for 85, 2005 Ashes). 

It was also a great pleasure listening to John Arlott, Alan McGilvaray, Brian Johnston, Christopher Martin- Jenkins, and Jim Maxwell.. What commentators, They through their voice, brought cricket to your eyes. 

Let me know your Ashes Memory, the famous one!!???

Have a good day

Regards

Karthik. 

Ashes being the greatest cricket event, may be the top 5 sporting events. I thought I would go through my memory (NO Google) on key Ashes moments from 1975……!

1975 Sydney Test Aussies regained Ashes, Greg Chappal caught Arnold off Mallet. 3-0, 2 to play.

1977 Geoff Boycott Series 100s, Batted 5 days in a test,  England regain Ashes 3-0. Alan Knott epic rescues. Bob Woolmer too class act. 

1978-> Enter Alan Border / Rodney Hogg… Nothing could be done, England pound Aussies 5-1. Lambs to Slaughter.

1979 3 tests between West Indies vs Aussies matches. Aussies won 3-0, Geoff Boycott 99 Not out, carried his bat too.. 1st player to be left stranded on 99.

1981- Bothm Ashes. Enough said…! Personally, disappointing even radio commentary stopped. I watched Bob Willis spell first time yesterday boy what an Angry man! (Leeds!) 

1983- Enter Geoff Lawson, destroyer..! Aussies Regained Ashes 2-1. Miller famous rebound catch of Tavare to end Thomson Border resistance!!!

1985 England pounded Aussies…. 4-1 I think after 1-0 trailing, Wayne Philips out, conterversial catch of Gower Boot. Gower/ Gooch 300 runs in a day..

1986-> Enter Steve Waugh… England Retain Ashes. Mike Gatting said No hope for Australian Cricket.

1989 Border Win Ashes… Big Merv Knocks the stumps down… Terry Alderman like 1981 had lot of fun but on winning side this time.  Fastest Regain of Ashes..! Boon and Marsh 304/0 end day 1..! First ashes I didn't even have a radio to listen or track scores, as I moved to a new place/ new job. (Ratlam Madhya Pradesh!)

1992- Aussies dominance continues home, Darren Gough heroics for a consolation win.

1993- Shane Warne ball of century…. Aussies win easily. England out of depth. Graham Thorpe the hope star for England.

1995 I don’t remember this series… Wonder why??? Aussies won 3-1 or so….

1997---Aussies dominance continues in England, they come back after first test loss to win 3-1.
1999- Ashes stay in Australia. 3-1 I cant even remember this series as England were in worst performance so not much followed up. Also I was busy in chaning jobs and so cricket was last thing on mind.

2001- Ashes 3-1 Another fastest win… Waugh, Warne, McGrath pound England.

2003- 4-1 Australia, England Cricket at its lowest.

2005 The greatest Ashes Ever 2-1 with Petersen century.. England Regained Ashes after 1985, I was in Thailand listening over Internet. First time crowd came to watch cricket match praying all 5 days of rain… (England up 2-1 and rains would do!).

2007 Australia Regained Ashes. Pounding poor games by England after dominating many times.

2009, 13, 15, 19, 2023--- England Didn’t lose Ashes series in England. Australia have not won Ashes in England since 2001…! England won 9,13,15 and draw 2-2. 19 and 2023. England bowling was too good!!

2010- England Regained Ashes and won in Australia 3-1 after 1-0 down. 400 for 1 was common score for England and as was Australia’s 39/5… Showed gulf in class..!

2014,18,22-- England had no answer to Aussies on slaught! Series was lost even before it began! Only Question now is My favorite crickter Joe Root, would ever win an Ashes or score 100s in Australia! 

DIGI YATRA

 I was on a 2-day Business visit to Bombay (Kalyan). (Boy it is pouring a lot here- I am reminded of 26th July 2005 when 900mm rain fell in 24 hrs and how I escaped that day by a few hours by taking an earlier flight out of Bombay on Monsanto Business travel to Aurangabad!)!!!

I used DIGIYATRA at Bangalore Airport, for the first time despite the APP being on my iPhone for the past 3-4 months. (It is an app equivalent to USA-TSI Check fast lane linked to facial recognition to the biometrics of your Aadhar card) It is a digital, paperless, identity system that allows you to go through entry into the airport, security, and into aircraft at the Boarding gate. There are special lines set up for every juncture for Digiyatra passengers. While I could whistle in seconds everywhere, as usual, the bags through the security check (Carryon bag took its own time due to ancient mummy-style conveyor and incompetent manual checks which can take their own time to deduct /infer that the bag is good to go) nullified all the time gained. (Like our toll collection on the highway where it can take > 5 min to pay Rs. 100 in-car queue nullifying 100km /hr racing to reach the toll plaza!!)...!  Such are the things!! Unless they bring in American-type bag scanners that roll past in a flash, these systems would have bottlenecks and impede faster action. Manual inspection is never the way in 1000 passengers/hr, unless u train a few good people and make things go fast as happens in Dubai, Doha etc. 

Yes, one pleasant thing today is that my carryon bags came through unscathed and I didn't get into an argument with CISF security who check my bag even after the scan (It is usually diverted for further manual check) and nothing would turn up and as usual they are not accountable to answer me as to why my bag went on the special scrutiny lane, thus wasting my time. The Airport security is as unaccountable for anything, as Joseph Robbinete Biden Jr. 

Would I try again DIGIYATRA? I may give another couple of shots, then decide that I would rather undergo the torture of normal lines knowing that I have 0 expectations of anything good happening in Indian Airports, and then get a pleasant experience if things breeze through like many other things in India, where we compare ourselves to better things here than in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, etc and smile, cheer and move on! 

DIGIYATRA is now available in Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Benares, Bezwada, and New Delhi. 

Regards

Karthik. 

Why I won't go watch even one World Cup Cricket match, despite 5 matches in Bangalore!!!!

Shravan, my son, insists that I go for the matches at Bangalore saying, "100$ a ticket Dad,  I shall get you"! I have flatly refused.! (We both went 2000 Miles to Qatar to see 6 world cup football matches in 4 days in warmer conditions in November 2022 !! What an awesome experience it was !)..!!!  In fact, I may even spend 0 time watching any match even on TV/ Internet, the white ball game has become such an untouchable/ loathed sport. 

The one time I went for a cricket match in India was more to show my Dad what a test match is all about and let him enjoy the atmosphere, (He arranged for me to go watch the 1981 Madras test) so I took the trouble to get a good VIP ticket. Fortunately, 20 years back the madness was less in Bangalore. (Michael Clarke Debut test). 

Sidharth Monga below in his ESPN Cricinfo article, speaks my mind!! Also, cricket matches are gambling with illegal aspects ruling roost, and game rules bent as required, unlike Football!!

Regards

Karthik.  

I reproduce article below for easy reading.....

++++++++++++++++++++++

Can Indian fans ever expect a pleasant stadium experience?

There are glimmers of hope as the BCCI looks to address some of the most pressing spectator grievances ahead of the World Cup

Fans took shelter on the stairwells and under the bleachers as the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad dripped and leaked around them during the rain-disrupted IPL final  •  Associated Press

Fans took shelter on the stairwells and under the bleachers as the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad dripped and leaked around them during the rain-disrupted IPL final  •  Associated Press

Earlier this month, the ICC AGM ratified its new revenue model, which gives the BCCI nearly 40% of the ICC's net surplus earnings. In the last cycle the BCCI's share was a little under 25%, a compromise between what the Indian board wanted through the infamous Big Three "reforms" and what the ICC board agreed on with an overwhelming majority.

This year the new model met significantly less resistance than the Big Three proposal did. It is being seen as vindication of the BCCI's stance - a constant source of tension in the ICC - that it should get a bigger share by virtue of how much the Indian market contributes to the ICC's revenue.

The Indian market contributes so much because it can sell the product - live coverage of cricket matches - to a much bigger population than the rest of the cricket world combined. The BCCI has argued its case, and now managed to seemingly convince the rest of the world, for a larger share on the basis of the high numbers and the passion of Indian cricket fans.

Even as discussions about the revenue model were being held at ICC headquarters in May, a number of the Indian fans on whom the BCCI's empire is built were being baton-charged outside cricket stadiums and ticket collection points as they tried to get themselves tickets for IPL matches. Even those who had managed to buy the small percentage of tickets made available online needed to collect physical copies of them by queuing up. Those who wished to actually buy the tickets being sold offline turned up in larger numbers. In peak summer, with no shade, people waited hours for tickets that would run out in minutes.

There was no attempt made to separate the two kinds of customers. Naturally there was chaos. Out came the batons, a colonial gift the Indian police have refused to give up even after 75 years of independence. They must be an effective tool for crowd management given how commonly they are used by Indian police.

There was no one outside the ticket offices from the BCCI or the state association hosting the match. On the part of the ticketing partners, bouncers in dark safari suits - the kind you see in the security detail of important Indians - and blue lanyards were seen using force to manage the crowds as if they were not genuine customers but trespassers.

In Ahmedabad, ticket sales at the counters at the stadium started only one day before the final. Those who had booked tickets online received emails telling them they needed to pick their physical tickets up before match day; it would not be possible to collect them the day of the game. To create the perfect storm, it was decided that for this match there would be no other collection points in the city. Nightmarish stampede-like scenes ensued for both playoff games in Ahmedabad.

These were people who had paid or were willing to pay hefty sums of money for the tickets.

****

Procuring a ticket is not the end of the ordeal. Getting to and from some of India's newer cricket stadiums is a trek. There is no reliable public transport and taxicabs are hard to come by. Once you get there, you become part of slowly moving queues early on match day because the gates won't open early and every single person has to be frisked so that they don't take in water bottles, coins, pens, pencils and erasers, to name only a few things, But the stadiums still somehow smell of chewing tobacco and the seats are stained with the red magic elixir that marks so many public spaces in India, to go with dust and bird droppings. It is a good job newspapers are allowed inside because you need them to cover the dirty seats with.

Most people who make it into the stadium choose not to drink water or eat the often unhygienically prepared food, not because it is exorbitantly priced, which it is, but because they don't want to be forced into a situation where they have to visit the dirty, unusable toilets. They can't even hope to go out and use the services elsewhere because the tickets allow only a single entry into the stadium.

During the final, when it rained in Ahmedabad, the rain water from the stands drained onto the people in the stands. By design, not malfunction. Water cascaded down stairwells. In that rain, without umbrellas (because umbrellas are not allowed in the ground), people had to make sure they kept the QR code on their paper tickets intact so they could come back for the reserve day.

Earlier this year, the BCCI moved a Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test from Dharamsala to Indore at the last minute because the outfield in Dharamsala was not ready. After weeks of uncertainty and panic among those who had booked their travel to, and stay in, Dharamsala, the BCCI's media release didn't express any regret to the fans. It didn't address the fans or consider the possibility of any inconvenience caused to them.

****

Can there be a bigger show of power than being able to treat like dirt your biggest asset, your biggest bargaining chip? The fans are the reason you can win any argument at the ICC. They are the weight behind every threat you make of withdrawing from a tour. They are the reason the red carpet is rolled out for your team everywhere you go. And you don't even have to care about them.

How powerful you must feel knowing that even if you don't build it, they will come. Indian cricket grounds are like trains in the country: dirty, dangerous, and manned by rude people, but there is no alternative to them.

Nobody at the BCCI is tasked with enforcing the basic minimum requirements for the ticketing process and the fan experience at the stadiums. Someone who runs quality checks, who can appraise the venues. The BCCI is in charge of only the playing surface and the players and match officials' (PMO) areas in the grounds.

The BCCI is but a union of its state associations, for whose convenience it exists. It can't meddle with how the state units deal with match tickets or how fans at those associations' grounds are treated. The stadiums belong to the state units. There is no incentive to be fan-friendly. There is no deterrent for the absence of toilets or leaky roofs, because match hosting opportunities are granted by rotation. Unless you are Ahmedabad.

The match ticket is a powerful political and diplomatic tool. The state units keep their constituent clubs and other powers in their constituency happy with complimentary tickets. There is no way they will part with that source of power just to make sure more genuine fans come in. Gate money is loose change compared to what a free ticket handed out to the right person can buy.

When the BCCI made the last-minute call to move the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test to Indore, the reason it offered was that the extreme weather in the hills had interfered with the preparation of the re-laid outfield. That is not something that happened overnight. It is highly unlikely the BCCI didn't know well in advance that the stadium in Dharamsala was in a race against time. If they knew, they found it too extreme a step to take the match away from a powerful member unit that was insistent on hosting it. On the off chance the BCCI didn't know, the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association didn't feel the need to apprise it of the readiness of the ground. Either way, the loser was the fan.

And at the end of the day, as it happened, if not in Dharamsala, in Indore, "they will come". In this market, the fan can't boycott stadiums in the hope that will bring about change, because there are tens of thousands of others willing to do anything even for this horrid experience.

During the 2012 IPL, the Chinnaswamy Stadium was stinkier than your usual cricket ground in India. That was because the Bangalore Municipal Corporation refused to collect garbage from the stadium. Turned out it was because the municipal authorities were told they would be given only a little more than half of the number of free passes they had asked for.

If the stink of the garbage didn't work, a threat to change the discounted rates at which the cricket association was paying tax surely did. The deputy mayor then told the Times of India that the Karnataka State Cricket Association was paying only 1% of the normal rate for advertisement tax and garbage collection. Not only does the fan lose out on tickets, the common taxpayer also pays for these tax discounts the BCCI and its state associations are afforded.

To be fair to the BCCI, though, working with local authorities in the various states is not easy. A lot of the rules that make the ground experience uncomfortable for people are imposed by the police. The police decide what people can take inside the stadium. If certain venues make you walk kilometres, it is because the police disallow vehicles beyond a point. It is the police who prohibit fans from going out of the stadium and coming back in again, presumably to make sure people don't throw their tickets over the fence to their friends, who can then use them to enter illegally.

The police, like any wing of Indian bureaucracy, doesn't take kindly to what it sees as meddling. So if the BCCI wants to use paperless tickets, it has to do so with the blessings of the police. And the last thing the police wants is change.

A big chunk of complimentary tickets has to go to the police, just like it has to go to the municipality and other departments that ensure the smooth running of any given match.

And part of blame for the lack of cleanliness in India's cricket grounds has to go to us. Our crowds - and indeed Pakistan's and Bangladesh's - are products of a patriarchal and casteist society, where cleaning up afterwards is always someone else's job. It is no wonder the janitors are overwhelmed when a big crowd turns up.

****

Between the state associations and local authorities, some benefit of doubt can be afforded to the BCCI, especially to its straitjacketed professional wing. There are many things the board does right, despite similar challenges, including using its political clout to better work with government agencies. Remember the time the IPL was moved to South Africa at short notice in 2009? Or when the tournament was played in the UAE during Covid?

With little incentive to make the fans' experience more pleasant, with fans holding so little agency, it purely comes down to the board's will. If there is a will to go out of its way, the BCCI can do better by the fans.

Fortunately, in a World Cup year, there seems to be some will to make this happen. During this year's IPL, the BCCI carried out an internal (but independent) audit of the stadiums that will host World Cup games. ESPNcricinfo has learnt that outside of any structural changes that might be required, three common areas of improvement identified were accessibility, clean seats and clean toilets - and in some cases, more toilets. These are the urgent priorities for the board in the lead-up to the World Cup.

A sign that it is not all just talk is how paperless tickets were trialled during the IPL playoffs in Chennai. Fans in that city were extremely unhappy this year because of the low number of tickets put up for sale, despite all the stands in the ground being functional. The centralised ticketing process, especially the paperless tickets, came in for praise during the playoffs. A higher number of tickets than before went up for sale, and those who bought them online didn't have to queue for paper versions later.

The BCCI is not the only Asian board reluctant to go paperless. SLC and the BCB haven't tried it, and the PCB didn't stick with the experiment for long. However, the BCCI is believed to be satisfied with the trial and is likely to make a case for broader implementation to the board's apex council. Fears of chaos caused by the same ticket being presented multiple times for entry seem to be unfounded.

Don't get your hopes up for access for the differently abled yet, but the BCCI seems to be working on getting people into and out of the stadiums quicker. Cleaner seats and more and cleaner toilets is something they are hopeful of delivering. The spending on these projects has been centralised, which means it is down to one organisation's will and not that of ten state associations.

The proof of the pudding, though, is in the eating. That even these small improvements are going to be a tall order is clear from how tickets have not yet gone up for sale close to two months before the World Cup. Air tickets to and from the hosting cities, and hotel tariffs, have already skyrocketed. Still, there is cause for optimism that the BCCI is acknowledging fans' issues and looking to tangibly work at addressing them. Because if the BCCI does have the will to do something, it has all the tools to make it happen.

Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

Oppenheimer

 Lalitha and I are just back on this rainy muggy day Sunday here in Bangalore, watching the movie, "Oppenheimer". This movie is also special, as this is the first movie in 33 years of married life that Lalitha and I are seeing at the theater with just both of us. (The total movie could be about 10 or so in the 20 years of movie watching since children pestered me to take them to Harry Potter movies back in the early 2000s and then they took me to movies which I selected like Reacher, The Post, Dunkirk etc.). Also, I broke the promise of 1 movie a year with 2 movies in 6 weeks. (hahhahah But still one movie a year in India holds good!).....

Oppenheimer is a must-watch- must not miss the movie. Please take 4 hrs of your time to go and see. Christopher Nolan has mixed the past (Black and White) and present of the Oppenheimer saga. How he built the bomb, the challenges as well as how his left-leaning tendencies worked against him post the Atomic Bomb development. I don't want to spoil the plot. 

The music score by Ludwig Gorransson (It was always Hans Zimmer until Dunkirk for Christopher Nolan) adds spice to the picture. Characters just stand out. No wonder Matt Damon came out of his self-imposed exile from the movies to play Gen. Leslie Groves (He promised his wife that he would act only if directed by Christopher Nolan).!! If the Academy of Movies is unbiased without its woke ideology and stupid rules of the ratio of Diversity, this should sweep the Oscars!! Let's see in March 2024.....

Enjoy it.... 

Regards
Karthik. 

PS: One surprising aspect was when Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr made their initial appearances in the movie scene, the cheer and whistle were surprising. More so from my back rows which was Platinum- high price seats!! 

 Lalitha and I are back home. We spent 3 days of week 8, in the USA rather quietly with the children. We went to see the workspace of Radha,( Deloitte - San Jose) Shravan (Apple - Vallco Park, Cupertino) and Sangeetha (Texas Instruments, Santa Clara). I was pleasantly surprised that Unlike India, Shravan and others came up to the security checkpoint and so we could spend an extra one-hour post-check-in etc. ( I had such prior experience before 9/11, but assumed that would have been done away with post 9/11)

The Inward Journey (SFO-DXB-BLR) was as comfortable as the outward one. Emirates is a great airline. When I pointed out to the stewardess that our seats are adjacent to toilets, (That did not show when I selected seats a few weeks before, in the seating plan) they changed our seats within minutes before take off! 

Please find our observations, thoughts, and comments on this 50-day trip. Let me know what you think and comments if any.

Regards

Karthik. 

++++++++++++

Overview of our USA Visit:-

Lalitha and I are back home today (11th Tuesday Morning). We had a great time at Cupertino and Foster City ( 25 miles apart) with Shravan& Sangeetha and Radha & Eshwar.  50days just went in a jiffy. It was a bittersweet moment -bitter that we couldn't spend more time with them but sweet that nothing like being back at your home, where you live.

I am glad Lalitha enjoyed her first overseas visit (mine 1994 Switzerland) and glad the four children of ours, made it a memorable time for both of us.

Lalitha and I have had some observations and we thought that we share them in a larger context.

USA Positives:-

1. My dream of 40 years, to visit Golden Gate, Alcatraz materialized. I missed the Universal Studios visit in 2007 (Corporate travel)due to work urgency. Glad it worked 15 years later. Also, the visit to Hollywood, Griffith Space Observatory at LA, as well to Dallas, and Portland was rewarding. JFK's assassination sport at Dallas was an overwhelming movement. The Pacific coast drive (Big Sur) and Aquarium visit was nature at its pristine best. It was great to meet my collegemates, Thirumalai Rajan and Chidambaram after 40 years of passing out. I am glad I met my Monsanto colleague, Clyde Roe at LA after 20 years. Lalitha had her fair share of Hindu temple visits too.

2. Infrastructure, Orderliness, Discipline, and following the law/ rules, are just seen to be believed in America. The penal system in America is very harsh (America incarcerates the highest % of people, as well as fines are very hefty) which could be one reason the compliance level is high. The law enforcement agencies at some levels are incorruptible. 

3. The real governance happens at County, small, segmented city levels with each county wooing corporate and other interested parties to work for funds through programs and collecting taxes. It reminded me a lot of the way Gandhi wanted to build a "Panchayat Raj" (Bottom heavy driven). (San Francisco a big city has a population of 800,000, a village by Indian standards), Cupertino (Apple) is a town by itself as is Mountain View,(Google) Palo Alto (Facebook / Stanford ) etc. have no administrative connection to San Fran even though they are all within 20 miles from SFO. Each town's budget is separate and managed. (The immigration officer when we landed at SFO, was confused when we said we would stay in San Francisco and the address given was Cupertino and said they are two different cities, why you are mixing it up, he wondered! …( 30 miles apart!!).

4. The school system is well-developed. Children must study in the schools that are established in their area of living like Singapore. Most schools' playgrounds resemble professional sports venues. The Libraries in a few counties have tons of books so much so that a person can take up to 100 books and keep them for some time. Schooling I am told is Free until 12th grade or so. 

5. Freedom to children is enormous, child abuse report lines exist, and children are a protected species despite all the tantrums they can do. I was amazed/perplexed to see Parents spending a good 90 min every day at the playground watching children practice. Maybe that is the time for their social networking with other parents!. I didn't spend 90 min in 12 years of their schooling to know what Radha and Shravan did!! As was my father to me. 

6. Preservation of Science, Arts, and History in the form of a museum is a uniquely Western aspect. Each museum is well-developed and a source of immense knowledge. The rich and famous have given away quite a lot to fund these museums. The park for outdoor activity is the norm every couple of miles or so. Some Parks are as big as 3 Football fields. 

7. Oh Yes, being away from the Equator, days are longer in summer (5 am to 9 pm) and shorter in winter. One can enjoy the day much more as Sun brings vibrancy to people. The sunlight can be deceptive too, as bright sunshine exists with the temperature at 11C making wearing a jacket a must!! 

8. American enjoy their holidays seriously, the amount of crowd I saw at Universal Studios & at Battleship Iowa tour (Memorial Day Weekend) and July 4th are in staggering numbers. Also, the respect for the Military and Police is amazing. ( I have seen common people exchanging their business class boarding passes with Soldiers on flights). 

9. Airports in SFO, San Jose, Dallas and Portland are big but facilities are no match for Asian / Indian airports. The interesting part is every airport has at least 2 to 5 terminals (Airline carrier specific), so the crowd gets distributed for check-in as well as security. All my 5# security checks in the USA, were hassle-free, without anyone touching /patting me, done within 5 min at most in line. TSA agents appear to be friendly with jokes as conversation & less threatening. English communication (which is a universal business language) puts people at ease, unlike Hindi here, which as a language not spoken by 55% of the country's population puts people at unease while undergoing airport security. A TSA female agent at Dallas Airport, spoke to Lalitha in TAMIL that she would be checking/ patting her (based on body scan m/c output) and if she need privacy that they both can go to a private booth to do the same. I must also mention Airport security checks at Dubai Transit were faster than Breeze. US Airlines' inflight service is a joke. 

10. Discount sales and offers for products are amazing spending motivators, I had told Lalitha that we must come back to India with 2 empty suitcases. (We are allowed 23 kg each* 4 to USA for 2 persons). Lalitha managed to buy 45 Kg of materials!! (Same as what we carried from here)! American spending can be very tempting, and $ can go down the drain in a flash! 

11. Practically 0 pollution, very good waste management systems, clean cold-water drinkable from tap. Water in peak summer is also supplied at 10C. Hot water is available 24*7 to facilitate clean-up etc. faster. Also being away from the Tropics, the dust/rust, and heat are much less so much so that I didn't wipe / clean my laptop even once in 50 days, (It is a weekly affair here in Bangalore!)

Our Other Observations:-

1. Public transport is non-existent in most cities. The car culture has spoiled Americans with cheaper fuel prices. So, a visitor without an international driving license would be dependent on friends/family for commute and his mobility will be severely restricted. The walk to shops is at least a mile one way, oh yes that is good exercise in a larger sense to see the positive aspect. Uber works out to 1.5$ a mile for travel. 

2. Manual Labour is very expensive, so machines replace men and families must put a dedicated time to carry out activities themselves. So, if you are short on time then the system that requires attention at home can become a mess. We got the sense in our interactions during our walk in the park with other Indians, that many grandparents are glorified nannies and cooks as well as caretakers when their children are away for work. (Most Indians we met are elderly Green card/Citizens who settled to take care of these tasks!). 

3. We felt that Indian children who are born and brought up in America are caught between what happens outside their home (American way) vs What happens inside their home (Indian way)  The children/ teenagers are caught in a cultural conflict that can impact their mental wellbeing. 

4. Indians, Other Asians live in a cluster of their own. Cross-cultural interactions /living outside that cluster appears absent.

5. Every job, however, mundane/non-sexy, it looks to us from the outside, people take pride in doing it and they cherish it. (That would be unthinkable in an Indian context for 80% of job doers as people appear to be grumpy, moody, irritated and appear unfriendly.) Tipping is very generous. (10% to 30% be at a Barbershop or delivery or Uber driver or a waitress!). 

6. Begging and Homelessness are at their highest I had seen this time in my 20 years of travel. (Especially in Portland and Downtown San Francisco). This is the biggest change I had seen since my last visit to the USA in 2012. Few of the LA / Hollywood Begging placard signs we saw, were interesting, but we didn't take pictures, as it was borderline absurdity/vulgarity.

Biggest Surprises:-

1. 8$ to take a trolley to load your luggage at SFO Airport. (Free in India!).

2. Huge packet sizes of commodity/goods (5, 10, 20 Pound packs), Massive size clothes washing/ Drier, Dishwasher, Fridge. Americans when they go to Europe and Asia frown / wonder at clothes being hanged in the sun for drying. We are puzzled at the reverse of no clothes hanging around for drying in America. (I deliberately let my used bath towel hang in open, to defy the rule. HHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHA)!!!! 

3. Ice is with anything and everything so you must mention NO ICE. Else you get a mountain of ice. I joke to Lalitha that the Annual USA Ice consumption Electricity= Bangalore city's Annual Electric consumption! 

4. Parking distance between cars while being at Red Signal. (Easily 2 cars can squeeze in that space). People err on the side of caution. Penalty and traffic rule violations are hit with major fines. Finding parking slots on important dates/ destinations is harder than finding a needle in a haystack. ( You can drive around 1 hr. and still won't find a parking slot, even a paid one at 20$, which happened to us on a memorial day on our visit to Battleship Iowa at LA). 

5. America is a very liability-conscious society, so everything is worked on how to protect oneself from court cases. So, Insurance companies have a field day, thus everything appears costly. 

6. The #people walking on the pavement in 10 min in India= # walking in our 50 days stay. The high traffic noise on walking during Golden gate bridge was the same as the daily traffic noise in Bangalore. (easily above 90dB(A). 

7. Childcare is very very expensive. The lack of social support system makes such expenses a must. ( Up to 2800$ a month per child). Medical aid is free and through insurance. Despite that, you can wait up to 6 hrs. in the emergency room before you are attended to unless your head is broken into two or you are overdosed with Narcotics and are minutes away from dying. We had a close call for a medical situation, but we wiggled out without much of an impact. 

8. Personal space is an extreme priority, people want to be politically correct. So, reaching out even as a well-wisher may come out as being far too intrusive. In contrast that when we landed in Bangalore, all 4 bags of ours weighing 23 kg each were taken off the conveyor and loaded onto a trolley by fellow passengers and Emirates staff, without us even asking for it. 

9. Yes, In all my US business visits, I never touch Indian cuisine. ( I never eat Indian food outside of India) Ironically this personal visit, I never visited an American restaurant for the Bagels, Waffles, Pancakes, or Eggplant stuff… One exception was a quick lunch at EQUATOR to grab a quick American lunch on our transit from Golden Gate to Alcatraz. 

10. Hindu temples are aplenty, be in Dallas or Portland!! Far cry from seeing an Indian face 30 years back in the general Western world (especially Europe!).!!! I felt that overseas Indians are more spiritually engaged in religion/ protocols than folks back home. They also have prospered well.  No wonder I am not surprised that The Economist brought out a cover story a couple of weeks back on the Indian Diaspora and why the USA needs India the most. (The Indian diaspora's average annual income is 150,000$ vs 75,000$ the whole American average!). 

Conclusion:- 

I used to mention even 20 years back, 

Heaven:- Indian Wife, American Salary, Chinese Food, English Home, German Car. 

Hell: Indian Salary, American Wife, Chinese Home, English Car, and German Food.  Appears true. 

I feel, India in General at present, is 20 years behind the USA, yes, we made up 30 years in the last 10 years. America with its debt/ Dollar being pressurized / Inflation, and corrupt politicians of late, can easily fall off the cliff say in 30 years. My biggest worry for America is woke/ left liberals who are rich and powerful calling shots and appear to be winning by manipulating everything in destroying America from within!

For the first time in my living memory, I had thought not twice but thrice about some $ spent, despite Lalitha urging me. The Rupee was getting weaker and taxes and surcharges on Indian credit cards, made me hesitate. (Hell-Indian Salary is right!) 

I hear of a few Indians (H1B) from bigger metros in India, who are actively considering returning to India after completing a maximum of 7 years of stay, without pursuing their Green Card (Permanent Residency); a situation unthinkable even 5 years ago. This trend is started already with folks from Eastern Europe,(Poland etc.) going back home. (Boomerangs) 

U may or may not know that 10,000 American Passport holders are living in Bangalore, so no wonder a new US consulate is being established soon)

For me, the thought of leaving India to work and settle in another country never came up. I was always comfortable going across the world for 15 years in business travel, 2-3 weeks of a trip a few times a year, and always coming back to Bangalore. That way it was the best of both worlds, Heaven in India, and Heaven outside India.

Regards

Karthik.

14th July 2023.