To Boldly go..

We are not talking about the new job here.  True, most of you expected me to take a break. Staring at an iPhone with 0 work emails and 48 gmails in 4 hours gave me a jolt! That is not the work life balance yours truly has become used to..

Promptly jumped into the new job and have the brain overload going again.

This post is about "boldly going where no man has gone before...."

On Saturday we went to the Olive Garden for dinner. There was a power outage in the entire area to the point where the parking lots were dark. So I went in first with the kids. Waited for them to come out of the restroom and the minute they came out it was my turn to go. So rushed in..

Come out and see a lady standing near the mirror! That is when I asked "Are you in the wrong restroom or am I?"

First of all, she was too zapped to see a guy walk out of one of the bathrooms! Then he actually coverses with her and has the audacity to ask her if she is in the wrong restroom? She gave me "the look".

Having been surrounded by women for the most of the last decade, she didn't have to open her mouth and say anything. Understood from that look that I was in the wrong place. Said sorry and walked out and her husband and son were waiting outside.

Then it was their turn to give me "the look". Mumbled something and came sat down at the table we got near the bar. My daughters were laughing out loud and my wife who didn't get what was going on kept looking at me and the kids. She thought it was one of our inside jokes!

Men folk. Here is a tip.. If you ever have a doubt that you are in the wrong restroom, just get the hell out..

Tolearati

That should be a legal word in the dictionary.

We have gliterrati, technorati, etc. so why not? and maybe it should mean "a collective body of people who live and let live"!

In case you are wondering why the request for some data, some things have been bothering me, what with the gloomy weather outside and the blog reading from the last few days.

For example, transporation! A guy who writes a "travelogue" ought to be concerned about the fate of transportation the world over, right?

We have governments monopoly on road building, public transportation, transportation routes, who makes what modes of transport at what cost, the control over the transportation modes on this world economy and environment, not to mention downright apathy on the part of governmnets the world over to provide what the common man needs to navigate today's world!

(all this after reading PK and Sauvik posts within a week and an NPR piece of who is going to be transportation secretary for the USA in the new Obama administration and how he may have a tough time balancing things)

Another example is the hoopla over Valentines day, the fact that it is Saint Valentines day and therefore is a Christian thing, how therefore it is something that Indians should not celebrate, how holding hands in public or kissing is not an "Indian" thing to do, how women going to pubs is against hinduvta, the concept of "hinduvta", how liberal is liberal, how fundamentalist is fundamentalist, how secular is secular, how free is free, how pink is pink, etc. Okay, maybe that last one wasn't on my mind as much as the other questions.

Finally, the last thing that we see is a flood of articles from the Huffington post to the Tehran times and anyone else claiming to provide news, on "India launches cola made from Cow Urine". When do a few folks doing something represent a country or its people in the world. Does the western media know that a majority of the Indian population is endorsing "Gau Jal"?, is there an official press release from the Government of India stating this cola as a product of the government, somehow this is linked to policy, etc.? Similar things happen to countries and people (USA is an equally prime example) where a few people do something and the entire country is supposed to be behind it!

Obviously before some of these thoughts get cleared, there were even more simple questions like what consitutes a minority, why would a majority of people divide themselves and be so polarized over things that happen to a minority of people the world over, within countries, states, why the divisions of what makes the minorities be important in the first place, what are the odds of finding a left handed lesbian pub and god loving woman in Bangalore, etc. etc. Okay, strike that last one out. It was more of an afterhought!

This post cannot continue folks! The brain needs to slow down and work off of some real data to see if all the above questions can be explained statitstically or we just have to resort to grandma sayings, aesops fables and Jataka tales. Maybe this cannot be explained in simple terms and one just has to accept it for what it is.

So, we wait for data and a deeper understanding of what drives all the insanity in this world!

.