center vs centre

I came to know just now that there is absolutely no difference in meaning between the words center and centre. Not only did I get surpized when I discovered this fact, I also felt ashamed at having used both of them so far at different places with slightly different meanings on numerous occasions, and at having considered myself one heck of a linguist for such excuisite skill at using the right words at the right places. I had been thinking that center is the geometric mid-point of a circle; and centre is used to refer to locations where a specific activity takes place. Actually it's the same word for both of these meanings. The British spell it as centre and the Americans spell it as center. So it is good to stick to one of the two spellings (think which English is yours closer to - the British or the American!). "The difference between center and centre" has been asked a lot of times in various fora on the internet. Most answers state that there is no difference except for the way the Americans and the Britishers spell the same word. But I found one answer at Yahoo! Answers particularly interesting (thoughful and thought-provoking). It says: "This has to do with the two poles of the universe. Britain is the 'centre' of the universe, while America is the 'center' of the universe." (Did you know - when there's a quotation mark in the end of a sentence, the Americans put the full-stop before the quotation mark, and the Britishers put the full-stop after it! Check out: Wikipedia Full Stop) Also, check this out for a list of many English words spelt and used differently by the Americans and the Britishers. I hope there will come a time when another form of Enlgish - the Indian English - will also be recognized as one of the standard versions of the language. Till then, let's work on creating it!

Adult Content at Late-Night on TV

News: The I&B Ministry plans to allow adult content to be shown on TV between 11:30PM and 4:00AM. The I&B has put its proposed Content Code in the public domain, for people to comment on.

It sounds like a step in the right direction. It will help us open up to some obvious realities of our life. Many argue that we are not yet mature enough to handle it, blaming it on our culture. But we all wear masks and do it anyway. Is that maturity? I don't think so. We need to get rid of those masks and accept what we are.

Another good influence this step will have will be on the quality of adult content that we produce in India. Though youtube is full of Indian Adult content (thanks to the Mallu A-Industry), not much is Internationally recognized. The quality we generate suffers immensely because of our legal, mental and cultural restrictions. I can imagine that most of those programs we'll now see in those late night hours would be adult commedies. And I think that is perfectly fine, coz over the years I have felt that adult humour is enjoyed the most. (Many may want to argue against this fact though.) And some ooh-aah programs are always welcome. We don't ask for X-Rated stuff on TV, which is not necessarily good for adults too. I think the kind of regulatory norms youtube follows, pretty much makes sense for us too. Coz from where we are right now, it is the right extent of opening up that we can afford. A bigger leap might worsen things.

One problem, though, is - how are kids to be made to go and sleep when their parents watch stuff? You don't want to tell silly stories to the most curious age group. They'll never believe unless they check out themselves. And even if you are successful in doing that, one day or the other the kids will come to know. But I think this is a general issue with parenting. There are many other things which are hidden from kids until they grow big enough to understand them. I have no experience in parenting, so cannot comment on it. But I believe this part is the most tough to handle. Watching adult stuff on TV instead of the Internet or CDs/DVDs etc. is a very small change for the adults. And all adults have their choices of adult content, based on which they may or may not watch the stuff on TV. Many may want to continue their old ways. But I am sure we cannot shield the kids beyond a certain extent, which I think is pretty small. I am not sure what's the best way to handle this. I'd like to know readers' views on this problem and the topic in general.

Finally...

My Trip to the US - 12

4 days to go, and I will be out of the US. I have had wonderful times here - some of my best - many many moments which will always be fresh in my memory and will bring smiles to my face whenever I'll think of them. As always, it's not so much about the place that makes these 2 months special. It has much more to do with the people I've met here, the fun I've had with them, the beautiful experiences which made each day count.

I came here on a Business Visa. B1. The purpose - on paper - of my visit was to have "Technical Discussions" with our "Client" and their "Customers". The purpose as told to me was "Training" on MXERP application. Never had any discussions or underwent any trainings though. And actually, I had to work. And working here has been a big pain. The first day I was given a big cabin - an entire room for me. It had been a store-room for a long time and was emptied for me to sit and work in. I saw it as a great opportunity for timepass. First time in my life, I had an exclusive office for me. It was incredible.

The first time I met our client company's Manager - Steve Kumar, it was one great moment. We had been working with each other for over a year, communicating on phone almost on a daily basis. When I went in front of him the first time, he was totally perplexed. For about an hour, he could not talk to me properly. He used to stop in between our conversation, look out of the window and wonder for a minute. He finally decided to tell me what he was going through. He said he had actually pictured me as a very "flamboyant" person from my voice on phone. I was shocked to hear that. I am anything but "flamboyant". Of course the very reason why Steve was shocked was that he did not actually find me a "flamboyant" person. But how did my voice sound like that? May be it does, but this was the first time that someone made such a comment about my voice. It was good to hear though.

The next few days, Steve Kumar didn't turn up at the office. (Probably shocked by my appearance.) So it was mostly like working in India - full timepass. I insisted on eating my meals outside, inspite of repeated dadagiri by Sampath not to eat anything outside, his fundas that every edible thing in the US contains fish/chicken/beef/pork/meat and his pleas not to bhrasht my dharm. I defied his authority, just to prove a point. He didn't get it, but I am happy that I tried.

I made some great friends like Sudheer, Suraj and Abhilash. They are the people who made my stay in the US an experience of a lifetime. I went to pubs, movies and malls with them, watched American chiks (chaddi and top - the most common dress here for gals), shouted shit, cracked jokes, sang songs, laughed, played, danced and shared thoughts and feelings. Chicago trip was a wonderful experience. Navy Pier is a very nice place. It is my dream to sit at Navy Pier on the banks of lake michigan with my Apple MacBook (my jaan...bought it in the US) and go on writing whatever comes to my mind. I had never seen a place so crowded, noisy and soothing at the same time.

Did a lot of things for the first time - played tennis (even the very first time, I played like a professional...twisted my had in my very first serve...fell once and hurt my leg too...they still pain), ate meat without tears in my eyes (learnt to inhibit my mental inhibitions), drank on consecutive days, worked at mid-night when the client got angry on seeing me doing excessive timepass, spoke angrezi with angrez people (realized that my spoken englis is good), wrote an exam in Amrika, ate all my meals (including breakfast) on time, ate frozen and ready-to-eat food, took stands, made choices and expressed opinions on important matters, ironed all my clothes myself regularly, figured out a lot of things without any help, used paper (!!!), learnt to see the bright side of life!

Life is getting more and more interesting with each passing moment...I hope it stays that way even after I go back to India...