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...

My Trip to the US - 11

I had to grope around in the darkness before I found the light switch. It was turned down. I thought that was the "on" position like with the switches in India. It was hard to imagine any other possibility. I thought there must have been a switch outside the room which controlled the room's power supply. I went out and checked, but found no switch. I opened the door wide open, so that some light entered inside.

There was a clock in one corner that showed a glowing red "11:30". It was a digital alarm clock with an LCD that showed the time and it also had a radio. I recalled that in the 5-Star room in chennai where my brother had stayed, there was a clock-cum-gadget that had buttons to control everything in the room - lights, AC, etc etc. I considered the possibility, though my hotel didn't look anywhere close to even a 3-Star. But since it was Amrika, I was not sure of anything. I started looking at the clock. I pressed all its buttons. One of them started the radio. It played so loud, and in the darkness I couldn't think for a while. I messed it up by pressing all the buttons on it 3-4 times. The clock's radio changed bands, the time changed randomly, something rang the clock's alarm very loudly, and something finally turned it off. I kept the clock back at where I picked it from.

I could see a phone kept on a stool. I went and dialled "0" which, Aziz had told me, was the front-desk-number. I told him there was no power supply in the room. But he said in his broken English that there was a switch inside, just beside the door, that had to be turned on, etc etc. I was getting embarrassed inspite of trying hard not to. I told him I would figure it out and hung up.

I started to do some R&D now. As a trial and error, I moved up the switch, the one beside the door, and that lit one of the lamps. There was some light now and I could see 3 more lamps in the room - all turned off. I went to the first one, and tried to see how it could be switched on. I found that the power supply was through a wire which was direcly plugged into a socket and there were no switches. I pushed a pin that slid right below the bulb of the lamp, and the lamp started glowing. WoW!!! I went ahead and turned all the lamps on. The light delighted me.

Next I checked out the wash-basin. I turned the knob on top of the faucet - both clockwise and anti-clockwise. No water came out. I concluded that the room had no water supply. I tried harder as the last ditch effort, and the knob got pulled up a little as I moved it forcefully. And then, water started coming out. So, I came to know that the knob had to be pulled up to turn it on. Soon I also figured out that after pulling it up, if I turned the knob clockwise, I got cold water and if I turned it anti-clockwise, I got hot water.

At that time, there were 2 guys - Vinay and Sampath - from my company working in Cincinnati for the same Client for whom I came to work. They're still here. They are on long-term visits and have been staying in apartments close to my hotel.

As I was trying to figure things out, Vinay and Sampath came to meet me. I had been wondering about food, and was happy to see a box with them. Had the delicious home cooked South-Indian food after they left and then, it was time to get on to the internet.

I was going to use Wireless Internet for the first time in my life. I had tried at London and Chicago Airports, but could never get connected. I took out my laptop and was connected within moments. I also turned on the TV to check out whether the Amrikan TV Channels really showed porn at mid-night, as I had heard. It was past 12:00 AM. I ran through all the channels the TV offered. I found pretty clean stuff everywhere. That was disappointing. I missed Sun TV so much. I found Jeetu online on GTalk. I immediately started a voice chat with him. Someone had to hear my first observations, aankhon-dekha-haal - no non-veg on TV at mid-night, lots of hot girls at London Airport, saw a very sexy gal in a mini-skirt at Chicago Airport, no hot gals visible in the hotel...

I chatted for some time, then fell asleep.

5th May 2007 - the longest day of my life - 24 + 9:30 = 33:30 hours long...had come to an end!

To Be Continued...

My Trip to the US - 10

I was in The United States of America - the country which millons of people the world over feel fascinated about, the place which is considered the land of opportunities, the country whose opinion matters the most on any issue of International concern, the country which defines fashion, the country which gives respect and refuge to talent from all over the world, the country which I was going to discover and which had already started opening its pages to me - I was feeling great. Suddenly life seemed very happening. The change was wonderful. I discovered that I enjoyed walking into unknown worlds. I realized that the mystery that uncertainty held in itself gave me a lot of pleasure when it revealed itself to me. Life would be boring without the element of uncertainty in it.

It was cold outside the Airport. I went from the Airport to the Hotel in a cab driven by a Mauritanean. Mauritanea, I came to know, is a country in Africa. The driver was very friendly and helpful. I learnt from him how to use calling cards to make international calls. He even gifted one to me. It costed $3. He refused to take money for the calling card.

I reached my hotel in about 20 minutes. The hotel, where I am still staying, is called - Best Western.

The cab dropped me right outside the lobby. The Mauritanean enquired at the lobby to confirm that we came to the right place. He wished me a great stay in America, and left. As I went inside the lobby to confirm my booking, I came to know that there were 2 kinds of rooms in the hotel - from the smoking point of view - smoking and non-smoking. That was the first choice a lady who came to book a room was asked for. The office at the lobby had a "drive-thru" as well - wherein you can shout into the window that you need a room, then answer the questions asked, then give your credit/debit card, then collect the room keys and your card and get into your room directly from there. The booking for me had already been done by my company, and I had to just take the keys after getting my ICICI Travel-Card swiped and signing on a few forms. I came to know that mine was a non-smoking room with a king-sized bed. That felt awesome to think about.

There was a TV at the lobby. It was playing the movie - Gladiator - on the channel called - tbs. I looked at the screen and smiled, and said Gladiator loudly. I think I did that coz unconsciously I wanted the white guy at the lobby to know that I had a high level of awareness, that I knew the good movies of Hollywood and also that I had good tastes in movies. The guy turned out to be an Usbeki. His name was Aziz. I felt ashamed for a while. I didn't have to do that. Even if he was an American. Made a mental note, an entry in Lessons-Learnt, took my keys and came out of the lobby to head for my room.

Though Aziz had given me directions for my room, I didn't quite understand him. My attention was somewhere else. And he spoke bad english. And also I was confident that I could figure it out.

There were 2 buildings facing each other. My room had to be in one of them. The room-number was - 232B. I went towards the nearer of the 2 buildings. I figured that I had to climb the stairs. There was a guy standing near the stairs with a bottle of bear in his hand. He looked as scary as any other drunken person. I told him my room-number and asked him where it was. He said I had to go up the stairs. Then suddenly he jumped to grab my bag and insisted to carry it for me. It wasn't easy to get rid of him. I told him 3-4 times that it was ok, and I would carry the bags myself. Finally he stepped back, smiled and said "Positive". I guess he meant that he was ok with what I said. He let me go. I found that my room was not in that building but was in the other building.

I reached my room after some searching around. I stood outside the door with the card-key in my hand. I had seen this kind of keys, and I had also seen my brother use one when he stayed in a 5-Star hotel in chennai. But I never take interest in How-Things-Work unless I get into situations when I have to understand them to go ahead. So here I was, trying to open my door. I figured that I had to swipe my card through a slot on the door. I inserted the card in all possible ways. One of them worked! I made a mental note of exactly how I inserted the card, and then pushed the door open...

To Be Continued...

My Trip to the US - 9

The American Airlines flight was much different from the Jet Airways flight. It was full of foreigners (rather I was the only foreigner). This was the first time I was among so many firangs. It was surely none of my comfort zones. There were a few Indians too, inside the plane, but they were very stangely indifferent. They were all trying to make friends with the Americans.

My seat was right in the middle of the Economy Class this time. I realized that I was more comfortable in Jet's corner seat than AA's middle seat. The Plane, the Seats and the Airhostesses were much better in the Jet Airways flight. The American Airhostesses seemed pretty arrogant, and much less caring. The service was definitely much better in Jet Airways.

I also realized that inspite of asking myself many times not to, I constantly compared whatever I saw, to how their Indian counterparts were. I have been doing that ever since I entered the American Airlines plane to this day. May be it's natural for any foreigner. Although, I cannot comment on non-Indian foreigners in America coz I haven't spoken to any, I don't think they are any different.

I wasn't lucky enough even on this occasion. No hot gal by my side. Mine was a window seat this time. And, believe it or now, I had company, though only for some time - a lady whose name was Nancy Hahn. She was a very nice lady. She worked in Misys Healthcare - a Client company for an Indian company.

She was coming from Bangalore, India. So the obvious topic on which to start a conversation with her was the Weather in India. Being an American, she must have had a really tough time enduring the Indian summers. I brought it up after our greetings to each other, and as expected, she had a lot to say about the heat. That made me feel that Americans are talkative. Or was it just that she was a woman? Could be the latter.

After talking for about 10 minutes, Nancy moved to one of the empty middle seats so that each one of us could sit comfortably. I was again left alone. Though Nancy was there whenever I needed help with figuring out things. Like I didn't have an ear phone and seeing the confused look on my face, she got one for me from the Airhostess. And on many occasions, she was there to guide me with the things the Airhostess carried...in her trolley.

I felt very tired. Took some apple juice. The LCD here didn't have much to check out. It was smaller than the one in Jet Airways. I still put on the headphones and played something coz I figured that if I had the phones on, I didn't get that stuffy sensation in the ears which I usually did in the domestic Indian flights. I was quite comfortable though I sat for hours without changing positions for long in each of the flights.

The American Airlines Plane flew much higher than the Jet Airways Plane. Most of this flight was over water. And we were above clouds for the major part of it. It being my second International flight, most of the excitement that was there before and during the first one waned away. Things got less and less special for me. The Airhostesses and their trolleys seemed like a routine affair. For lunch, there was a special order for me. My company had asked for a vegetarian meal for me. I felt so Indian for the first time. The food was good. My optimism about American Veg food grew stronger.

I got reprimanded once by the Airhostess for ordering before she came to me. She was serving the guy behind me and I was next in line. I told myself - those Indian gals in Jet Airways wouldn't have been so rude :-(.

Things started getting uneventful. I was tired. I slept a lot. When I got up, we were 45 minutes from Chicago O'Hare. The Aircraft was shaking due to turbulence. It descended after a lot of circling around the Airport. Lot of traffic at the airport, I guess. I walked out of the Aircraft. Nancy and I were walking side by side until we came out.

O'Hare is a big big airport. That's what I heard from many. Even the LCD showed a big big map with lots of gates. While I was there, I couldn't get much idea of its size coz I was led out of the plane into corridors and passages and then to a big hall where I had to do Immigration Check and stuff. Nancy showed me that I had to stand in the queues for Immigrants was she was going to a queue for US Residents. Since we were parting, I felt that we might never meet again. It was good to have the contacts of someone who'd helped you so much. So I asked Nancy whether I cud have her card. She didn't have one to give me right away. Then I asked her for her email Id and she gave it to me on a piece of paper. I was elated. We said byes and then we joined our respective queues. When my turn came, I was asked "Why are you here" at the counter. I blurted out the answer I had prepared during my VISA interview - For technical discussions with our clients and customers. I was also going to add - Preliminary design and analysis - to it, but then I felt it wasn't required. My passport was stapled with a piece of one of those forms I had filled with a stamp of Aug 04 2007 thumped on it. I later came to know that the form is called I-94 and the stamp indicates the maximum time I am allowed to stay in the US.

I collected my luggage (called baggage in air-travel terminology). I was convinced that Chicago was where I had to collect my baggage from. My next worry was about how to check it into my next flight to Cincinnati. I had been thinking about these for days. I enquired and came to know that I had to go to another gate to catch the domestic flight to Cincinnati and to go to that gate, I had to catch a train. There was an escalator to take me up to the train stations. Sindhu had told me about those escalators and the fact that you should not keep much luggage if alone coz you need to leave the trolleys and lift all the luggage yourself from here. I didn't have much to carry though, and my suitcase had wheels too. So I could easily walk with my baggage and reached the station in no time. The train came very soon. I got into it. I noticed that everyone else was so much taller than me. In India I am of an average height. There were 2 cops standing right in front of me. I told them the gate I had to go to and asked them where I had to get down. They said it was the very next stop and they were getting down as well, so I could follow them. I did that.I got down at the next station. I saw Nancy there. Said a Hi to her. She came along. She helped me checkin my baggage for the next flight to Cincinnati and also guided through the security check and then to the right gate for my next flight. It was so kind of her to help me, though I had never asked for it. I guess somehow she realized that I was new and needed help and was also a good boy.

The Security check was interesting. I got to see the domestic air-travellers in the US. It was like a casual thing for them. In India, air-travel is a big deal, even by Air Deccan. The security check was pretty strict. Everybody had to take out shoes, watches, everything metal. I wonder how women manage with rings at all kinds of places. Rings in ears may be allowed coz they can be seen. What about the rings elsewhere? Anyone knows? Don't the metal detectors shout when such rings pass through with any woman?

I again felt proud at my decision of taking off my socks. After the security, I enetered the huge domestic terminal of Chicago along with Nancy. There were hundreds of gates from which hundreds of flights were departing every minute. Wonder how they manage such traffic.

Our next flights were from different gates. So it was time for another Good Bye to Nancy and this time it was indeed the last one. I wondered whether we could sit and talk for some more time, coz there was still 1.5 hour time for my flight and 1 hour for Nancy's. But Nancy didn't seem interested. So I let her go, and looked for my own Gate. It was not far from Nancy's. I could see her.

There were many seats in front of each gate. I could not sit for long. My legs were aching. I started romaing around. The bag with the laptop in it was heavy. I still walked. There were stores all over - McDonalds etc. I didn't eat anything. Just kept walking. Saw a public coin phone at one place. I didn't have coins. There was an option to swipe a card and call. I swiped but it didn't work. I gave up. First encounter with these coin/card automated things in the US! I came back to my gate, sat on one of the seats and checked if my laptop worked with any of the available wireless networks. It didn't.

I looked around. First time in my life, I saw a real girl in a real mini-skirt. Of course I did see in movies, but never in real life. I was in Mumbai for 4 years, but never saw one. And here at the airport I saw one girl with a perfect figure and in a mini-skirt. She was an Ui-Ma kind of girl. It was treat to watch her running, pulling along her bag with wheels.

Then there was a couple with a chhmaaaaaaall kid pulling all their luggage as they were walking. That was very cute. I should have taken a pic. It didn't occur to me at that time. I went and complimented the parents that their kid was very cute.

I kept waiting for my flight's boarding anouncement at the gate till the last 15 minutes remained. Looked around, even Nancy had gone. Just then, it was announced that my flight would depart from another gate that was pretty far away. Less than 15 minutes remained for the departure. Now that worried me. I ran. It took a long time to reach that gate, and when I did, a lady there said she had closed the boarding for the flight. I wonder how all other passengers had come to know of the gate change. The LCDs all over the airport were still showing the earlier gate number for that flight. Anywayz, the lady opened it again for me, and I went inside and boarded the flight. I was the last one to get it.

This plane - American Eagle - was a pathetic Aircraft. It was like a long pipe with 3 lines of seats. There were no Airhostesses - just one steward, who was effeminate and seemed gay and was acting smart. It seemed there was no AC also. The plane was very old and ill-maintained. Overall it was a bad flight. I slept through most of the 1 hour I was in it.

Cincinnati Airport is much smaller than the other ones I had seen during the day. I collected all my baggage. Thankfully, nothing was lost. I had heard tales of people finding their bags missing when they reach US. I was relieved to find everything right there.

I had to call a cab. I was wondering how to. I asked a cop. He told me that I had to call from the phone at a corner he pointed to. I went there. A Chinese looking gal was on the phone asking for a cab. She spoke with an American Accent. She asked me if I needed a cab too. I said yes. She called one for me too. She told me the cab number, which I did not understand. I asked her again, she told me again. Again, I didn't understand. She was too arrogant. Didn't respond a bit to my smiles. She went away. I decided I was going to call the cab myself. I didn't know what number to dial. I looked around, there was a register with many numbers. I was having a tough time. I picked up the receiver, it connected me directly to the cab-service guy. I asked him for a cab and he told me the cab number. So I was relieved that I too had a number now.

I came out of the airport to where the gal was standing and waiting for her cab. There was one bus picking up passengers on the other side of the road. I wondered where that went. Since my company was paying the cab charges, I decided not to worry about the cost of going by a cab. The gal sat in a cab that was not of the number assigned to her. Actually the cab guy came looking for someone who had already left. So she sat in it. Later when her cab came, I sat in that. Wonder who sat in my cab!

Well, as all this was happening, I kept saying to myself - Man! You reached your destination! Here you are at Cincinnati - Ohio - USA. Palmistry is bogus!

To Be Continued...