About being an introvert

I stumbled upon this fantastic article by Jonathan Rauch which talks about in his own words "The habits and needs of a little-understood group".

I had so many aha! moments when reading this its not funny. I always thought of myself as being a classic introvert and after reading the article I think I am a "textbook case". I really cant give any insights to this strange phenomenon but I can only attest to it.

Do you know someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk? Who has to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recuperate? Who growls or scowls or grunts or winces when accosted with pleasantries by people who are just trying to be nice?

Read the rest of the piece here.

Oh no its happening again...

Yesterday all of a sudden I had a few calls, mails from my family and some mates in India. I could not for the life of me understand what the hoopla was all about. Then I heard the news. An Indian guy was killed in Melbourne. An absolute tragedy. The guy was 21 with his life in front of him. Condolences to his family and friends.

Now the difficult part, was this an racist attack? An extension of the 1000+ "beatings" that have targetted Indians perhaps? Honestly nothing for me has changed, when I last blogged of it here. The media coverage here this time has been a bit more proficient but still seems to focus more on how the Indian media is covering the news rather than the actually covering the story themselves.

In fact I would go so far as to say even if the moron who was probably a druggie did kill the Indian for some "curry bashing" does not in anyway mean you can generalise and say Australia is racist. There are idiots everywhere in the world, learn to accept it. No local walks alone in a park of a dodgy neighbourhood at 10pm and with good reason! Also what classifies as a racist attack? If the murderer turns out to be a guy of ethnic Vietnamese or Lebanese origin is that still a "racist" crime? And the last option is more than plausible.

To me the adjective is totally irrelevant. It was a crime. When we harp on "racist" that to me is just an excuse to diverge from the issue, inviting unncessary and quite frankly some very tasteless debates. And in all that I fear everyone is just looking at the symptoms not the actual problem.

It is a sad fact of life here in Oz that Indian students have become targets of violence because they work hard while studying in tertiary institutions or in their part-time or permanent employment. Some travel late at night, either on public transport or by foot, making them quite vulnerable.

The problems needed to be looked in are teenage alcohol / drug abuse and I think the one of even more paramount importance is efficient policing. In fact the police needs to work very closely with the universities to make sure the international students are educated about things they ought not to be doing or simply put the police needs to show it cares!

An important thing to remember; the international students contribute heavily to the Australian economy (education is the 3rd biggest Aussie export) and they have every right to be treated with the same seriousness as any other person existing in the social fabric and their concerns need to be addressed rather than dismissed. There is a particular problem in Melbourne(more so than others) and it needs to be confronted squarely. To say assaults on Australians have happened in India is ridiculous. India is a land of one billion with more than half of them being poor and/or uneducated. Australia is 20 million and affluent. Australians are not going to India as students. Indians are coming here to study and I am sure Australians want them to come here for the economy else they wouldn't even grant em any visas. They can't take the money and shirk their duty of care.

Worst of all, I am afraid all this brouhaha will only negetively affect the Indian community here. Sigh! So it goes.

Well have to end this depressing blog with a quip a Bulls supporter blurted out in the T20 game on Sunday,
"Why do people in Queensland drink XXXX? "
"Because they cant spell Beer"

Happy new year folks : )

Avatar: My review

Sometimes when the hype is built up too much more often than not its very hard to live up to. I was really looking forward to watching Avatar. There was almost delerious hype and the talk of the movie seemed to be everywhere. So I was afraid it was going to be a damp squib given my luck with these things. But after watching it all I could say was WOW. I mean the 3D animation, the special effects were amazing!

The plot is really nothing to write home about. A combination of Dances With Wolves, The Last Of The Mohicans to The Power Of One. Plus not mention the heads up given by Eric Cartman in Dances with Smurfs. Its just a simple fairy tale in a kick ass world with awesome huge birds which you are supposed to tame like the cowboys and 6 legged horses with whom you really have to connect, and this is literally speaking! ;) Last but never the least, a kick ass world with very humanly appealing alien princesses who thankfully has picked up American English. Talk about beauty being universal! And the the bad guy is like a villian straight out of the GI Joe clan.

One thing I also have to mention is the movies length. I could swear it was almost 3 hours long. Thats insanely long for an English film. For Indians used to watching long Bollywood movies this is a piece of cake but not sure how the westerners would react to this. To be fair to Cameroon the pace of the movie especially in the latter part really picks up so odds are you wouldnt even think you've been in the theatre with the 3D glasses that long.

Don't go watching it expecting a cinematic masterpiece. But watch it like a fairy tale movie your grandma would make for you if she had half a billion bucks. ;)

opinion on Raj

I was reading Gaurav Sabnis's post about Raj Thackeray yesterday and couldn't stop nodding my head in agreement all the way through.
After that, since I have been so out of touch of late with Indian and Marathi politics, I saw some of Raj's interviews with the national media. Raj Thackeray is clever and definately more nuanced that Balasaheb. I loved how he spoke in Marathi on these channels; using it as a medium to come across as a saviour again. I can't beleive the hosts of the shows, from Rajdeep to Arnab fell in the trap; trying to ask him the reason why he is not speaking in Hindi, why he hates Hindi etc. Raj's answer is and always has been, its better he talks in a language he feels comfortable in and repeatedly said he has nothing against Hindi and giving examples of other people who do the same ie speaking in their own language thereby shutting up the hosts on that. Another point served with his growing, sympathetic support base, how Rajsaheb stands up for Marathi.

In fact the interview with Arnab Goswami was really good. Have a look here. I can see why Raj strikes a chord with so many people. After reading some of the comments again I see how the national media have blown him up so much that he is the modern day Jinnah apparently! People have to realise that the more stupid and generic anti Marathi statements they make, only contributes to make Raj bigger and bigger.

The actual matter in Raj's statements is what we need to look into I think. He seems to be too busy just repeatedly clarifying himself on issues which I think that even now the national media doesnt seem to get. Eg Chath puja. Celebrating the festival isnt his problem, the problem is the show of "political strength" that comes with it seems to be his main grouch. Same with Hindi, and anti-North India campaign, where he has repeatedly clarified that he isnt against all outsider just UP-Biharis. Still a crappy stance, but every time the media uses the term anti outsiders its just a point to Raj. See how the national media doesnt quote me correctly. Hazar da sangitla tari kahi farak padat nahi.

Most of Rajs logic seems to be like; 5 other people are doing it then why are you only telling me to straighten up. A very juvenile and stupid argument. Take him up on that! Ask him how he will actually do some good for the people and not bring the Marathi asmita into a question all the time. The more airtime Raj gets to justify Marathi and rant about how he has been vilified by the national media, the bigger Raj gets. Expose him on some substance and actual ground issues.

Oh and loved how he shut Rajdeep up in that Thackeray Vs Thackeray piece, when Sardesai kept hammering at Raj wanting an answer if he will go back to the Shiv Sena. Raj tried dodge for a while before shooting at Rajdeep, "Tell me will you go back to NDTV" lol!

Oh my previous blog on this was a long time ago. Sigh its still an issue :(

Me and my Mo

What is it with Aussies and their Mo? From the time when I was a tiny tot to now, the legend of the Aussies started and ended with their signature Mo. Who can forget big Merv swearing at the batsmen or just commanding the respect of the crowds everywhere. Theres no way he could have done it without the Mo. Same for Boonie, Rod Marsh, Ian Chappel to name a few. In fact in Tassie theres a legend* about Boonie and how he stopped the ball in his mustache. 

Why all this all of a sudden? Its Movember people! It's a basic assumption in these waters that men don't like to talk about mens health or charities but growing a Mo for charity; now thats different. Movember is a charity that supports mens health. This year I have shaken off my inertia and have decided to sport a hirsute upper lip. 

Australians clearly believe in the power of the Moustache and this November I have decided to do the same. You can go here to support me <http://au.movember.com/mospace/313176/>

*The legend of Boonie lacks any factual evidence and may be a figment of the author's imagination, but has been reproduced here for a noble cause ; )

The List (Cont...) Shot at Gold!

After the eventful weekend, there was the small matter of completing what was started. Martin had two days rest, when in theory he should have completed the Max challenge ;) Then came Wednesday. There was going to be an attempt for gold. The number 1 item on The List was going to be completed. Martin was prepared (he came with a pack of Kleenex ;) ) and so were we (Nhiem, Kamran and me)

Let me just describe the dish first. He was supposed to eat the Spicy Beef Schezuan. Its mainly beef, chilli and a sauce served in a huge bowl and normally serves 2-4 I think.

The Beef Schezuan was ordered by the time we reached Noodle Kingdom and the sense of expectation was overwhelming. The dish came and well have to say Martin I think they had toned down on the red chilli. And then they brought 4 bowls.
"Thats alright mate, only he is going to finish it.", I try and tell. The dude was well a lil bit surprised to say the least ;)
The came the classic conversation.
M, "Can I get some rice"
Chinese waiter, "Sure"

5 mins pass and the rest of us have got our meagre portions. Martin starts working on the gravy and has some of the chillies until he realises there is no rice yet. So again,
"Can I get some steam rice?"
Waiter: "hmm what?"
"Ricce rice"
Waiter looks blank as hell. A few more awkward glances later,
"Eating rice.RICE.(perhaps a hint of annoyance) 1 serve of it." Giving him the finger. Mmm that sounded wrong. Lets just say gesturing with the index finger to show the one ; )
Waiter: Finally understands and quickly fetched a bowl.

Strangely there was relatively less whinging and he got through half the portion quite fast and easily. And then the fun started. M had gone all red. And well I knew this was going to be interesting. Starts with making all kind of weird faces as he eats the chilli and sauce(which btw was delicious) pleading with us to help him out. Then being good mates, we did dutifully taste a spoonful. Em, make that 5 in my case.

"Oh my mouth is on fire. This is incredible stupid(sic)"
"The water is not helping". This line came out often perhaps 100 times in the lunch time conversation. Sometimes in some minute variations, "This water is not helping one bit" . The concerned staff at Noodle Kingdom were at their best. They have never been as prompt in giving water before! And well they did keep an eye on Martin all through, often pointing and laughing. Ok I made that last bit up, but you get the idea ;)

He made so many weird faces during the remainder of the meal that some customers in adjoining tables were grinning ear to ear too as they realised an interesting lunch was taking place on our table. Oh and of course Martin was breathing fire and just had to exhale in someones direction to fire a round of hot chilli breath! I am sure that drew peoples attention ; ) .

And oh not to mention all the while, the remaining non sufferers i.e. us the audience were having an awesome time and could not stop laughing. Martin must be cursing the time he said that he can eat the Beef Schezuan!

Then he came up with his last plan. "I said I would finish the meat but not the sauce" This was not unexpected and Nhiem and I had made sure we and accounted for this before and Martin then had his classic, "yea right" moments.
And I have to say he almost finished it. But then as he apparently had done with the beer, gave up. Nhiem convinced him to literally "drink" the sauce with a straw. The waitress was amused more than shocked when we told her to get a straw to help him finish the liquidy sauce/gravy.

Well but he did give up. And how close he came to finish it. As a esult of the bet, Martin had to pay our lunch and well had "too much chilli" related problems the next day anyways ; ) An expensive loss indeed.

Oh and btw he had Japanese cake after with us all to round off an awesome lunch! :-D

Martins Bucket List

Whats a good Australian send off? Well ask Martin. Since he is leaving, he has to complete a certain list reproduced in full in an awesome handwriting above. ; -)

Let just update all you folks on what has happened so far. Martin started acting on the list on Saturday when we were at Nhiem's place. The first challenge attempted being challenge no 3.

Challenge 3 Put a weird status message on Facebook:

This one was a piece of cake really. And well the line chosen was hilarious, “I found a huge boil between my legs”I am sure Jess had something to do with that ;)

The next challenge perhaps appealed to the German in him. So we attempted challenge no 10.

Drink 15 beers and 4 Jägerbombs:

Well have to hand it to the bloke, he completed this more or less honestly, (there was some confusion at the end with 3 beers) but overall a good job. Whats more he even had an extra

Jägerbomb just for good measure. ;-)

After that was a case of basically he was on a roll so next challenges attempted in the night were going to be, number 7, 3 and 2.

Challenge No 7 snort 1 line of castor sugar:

After all the drinks the main character of the blog, Herr Schnorr, was quite confident of this; leaving aside ofcourse the trademark winging!

But when Nhiem lined the sugar he wasn’t sure anymore. Again quite typical ;)

Martin: "Unbeleivable I need more beer!"

And then he starts. Slowly but surely getting it right. And of course all the while winging ;)

Until there was none left. But then I guess he had problems breathing or to quote M , “My nose is on fire. ”

Oh and I think he got to keep the 20bucks for his efforts.

I am sure the more astute readers have already noticed the parrot on M’s shoulder. Lets just have a story on that eh. That was the next challenge attempted.

Challenge Number 2 Parrot on shoulder for a whole night

Honestly the challenge seemed harmless. He has to have the parrot (a fake one of course) on his shoulder for a night. That meant going to a pub with it. And if someone asked “Why do you have a parrot on your shoulder?” , M is supposed to answer, “Why don’t you?” All seemed like awesome fun after a lot of drinks.

What we didn’t actually take into consideration is how much M would actually like the parrot. I mean he didn’t keep it off even when we were at Nhiem’s house!

And well just reproducing one of the pictures that captured the love ;)

Now by the time we reach the city. M is pretty much gone, dancing and has totally forgotten about the parrot. Then when he does take it out, he fumbles and the parrot falls amongst a crowd of pretty young girls and I am sure one of them stomped on it and it broke and boy did they freak out.

Random Girl: “Wtf was that man!”

M: “My parrot” with a sad face

By this time the parrot was broken into 2 pieces and I am sure the girl didn’t realise it was fake.

Random Girl: “What?! Nooo way..” a very concerned face, probably wondering if the liquid on the floor was blood and not just “harmless” alcohol.

But then Jess, the good girl that she is, explained the situation and Martin got half of his parrot back.

Which reminds me mate, what did the vet say about the parrot?? ; )

After this the working week starts. And well he did go for number 1 and boy was that hilarious too.

Lets keep that for another time shall we?