After my board exams the most I have studied is for the driving tests which I cleared in February.
For the past few weeks before the 19.02 - both Sats and I - would be talking only about the driving rules. We had resorted to using sign language to communicate with each other so that we get used to paying attention to signs. Spending quality time meant sitting together and doing the mock tests - we had a package of 60 odd test papers and we each of us did each paper around 2-3 times. The people who had given the test earlier had convinced us that the actual questions are from these papers so we tried to mug 1800 odd questions and of course it was a Herculean task, phew!!
We also found the following website very useful link
For a driving license in Germany one needs to pass a written test and then clear a driving test. We cleared the written test on the 19.02 and then the driving test on the 27.02. The driving inspector told me that he is giving me the license but "I am a fast driver. Do be careful". Whatever! for a person who got his driving license home delivered in India without appearing for a test to clear the strict procedures in place in Europe on the first attempt is a big achievement :-P.
Now I look forward to the delivery of my car!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Coffee on Demand
We bought a Braun Tassimo coffee machine last week. This is how it looks
and this is what the official site has to say about the machine -
With the TASSIMO machine and the TASSIMO Discs you can make the hot drink you want, when you want it. No fuss. No bother. It's truly amazing. The same machine that makes a real espresso and freshly brewed filter coffee from some of your favorite U.S. and European brands, also makes real milk-based latte & cappuccino, cafe crema, tea, hot chocolate - something for everyone. Each cup is freshly brewed to celebrate its true character and gives you the taste you love, every time. Tassimo lets you enjoy a cup of exactly what you want, right now. Simply insert your choice of T-DISC, select the right cup for your drink and press the button. In about a minute you'll savor an exquisite cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate. You can brew your next delicious cup right away, knowing it will be as fresh and delightful as the one before it. No mess, no grounds and no waiting. Just pure pleasure, one cup at a time.
I was impressed by the size of the whole setup since it is very compact but to be very frank with you I was more impressed with the price. Though the new machine is available for I think around 130 bucks, a person in office( God bless him )was offering it for 35 and it was only half a year old. Since we really wanted to have a coffee machine but not spend too much on it we decided to go ahead with it.
On putting the contraption to test we found the whole thing very easy to use. A jar fitted to the machine was to be filled up with tap water and then we needed to put something known as a coffee disc which looks like this
into the top of the device and press the button to get the latte. That simple! The discs are usually sold in a package like this
and this is how our latte looked like in the end
Now we can offer a host of drinks to anyone visiting our house - Vodka, Wine - Red and White, Sekt, Gluwine, Rumm, Bailey's, Campari, Beer, Indian tea, Europent tea, South Indian filter coffee, Latte Macchiato, Cappucino, Konning, Cafe Crema - anyways I guess you get the picture. Pretty impressive eh? I am the designated coffee maker in the house and I really look forward to "brewing the passion".
So yes its simple, effective and impressive and the only drawback I can think of is the fact that each of these disc packs are at least 4-5 bucks and if one is a heavy coffee drinker one needs to get a packs every couple of days. However, considering we got the machine for 30 bucks and we, as of now, use it sparingly I think its a prudent spend!
So everybody is invited for a nice cup of coffee....
and this is what the official site has to say about the machine -
With the TASSIMO machine and the TASSIMO Discs you can make the hot drink you want, when you want it. No fuss. No bother. It's truly amazing. The same machine that makes a real espresso and freshly brewed filter coffee from some of your favorite U.S. and European brands, also makes real milk-based latte & cappuccino, cafe crema, tea, hot chocolate - something for everyone. Each cup is freshly brewed to celebrate its true character and gives you the taste you love, every time. Tassimo lets you enjoy a cup of exactly what you want, right now. Simply insert your choice of T-DISC, select the right cup for your drink and press the button. In about a minute you'll savor an exquisite cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate. You can brew your next delicious cup right away, knowing it will be as fresh and delightful as the one before it. No mess, no grounds and no waiting. Just pure pleasure, one cup at a time.
I was impressed by the size of the whole setup since it is very compact but to be very frank with you I was more impressed with the price. Though the new machine is available for I think around 130 bucks, a person in office( God bless him )was offering it for 35 and it was only half a year old. Since we really wanted to have a coffee machine but not spend too much on it we decided to go ahead with it.
On putting the contraption to test we found the whole thing very easy to use. A jar fitted to the machine was to be filled up with tap water and then we needed to put something known as a coffee disc which looks like this
into the top of the device and press the button to get the latte. That simple! The discs are usually sold in a package like this
and this is how our latte looked like in the end
Now we can offer a host of drinks to anyone visiting our house - Vodka, Wine - Red and White, Sekt, Gluwine, Rumm, Bailey's, Campari, Beer, Indian tea, Europent tea, South Indian filter coffee, Latte Macchiato, Cappucino, Konning, Cafe Crema - anyways I guess you get the picture. Pretty impressive eh? I am the designated coffee maker in the house and I really look forward to "brewing the passion".
So yes its simple, effective and impressive and the only drawback I can think of is the fact that each of these disc packs are at least 4-5 bucks and if one is a heavy coffee drinker one needs to get a packs every couple of days. However, considering we got the machine for 30 bucks and we, as of now, use it sparingly I think its a prudent spend!
So everybody is invited for a nice cup of coffee....
I am no chicken.... but a penguin?
Most of the first European winter as a resident here has been spent trying to settle in so winter sports opportunities have been limited. However when Sats mentioned that ice skating was possible close by we along with another friend decided to give it a try.
Now I have never done roller skating, roller blading .. in fact the only thing which i have done close to having external medium supporting my feet for enabling motion is to walk using stilts. So of course you can imagine the situation i found myself when i put on the skates - People....skating REALLY HURTS! Both physically as well as emotionally. I could not keep myself up straight on the rink while everyone else including little kids were gracefully moving around me. The other thing I learn't is that it is difficult to keep oneself up on the rink but it is even more difficult to get up once one has fallen. A skating rink is a good teacher, teaching an important lesson - when down be down!
Anyways, swallowing whatever little pride i had left I took help of a "skating assistant" - a wooden figurine of around 3 ft in height in the shape of a penguin with skates as webbed feet and started navigating gingerly the contours of the rink holding its ears :-O. The penguin didn't make me an expert but it helped me in not plonking myself on the ice or bumping into people. By the end of 2 hours I was in a position to slowly walk around without assistance and though I fell around atleast 10 times and had bruises in all sorts of mentionable and non mentionable places I do intend to go back again and make progress without depending on my friend the "penguin".
Now I have never done roller skating, roller blading .. in fact the only thing which i have done close to having external medium supporting my feet for enabling motion is to walk using stilts. So of course you can imagine the situation i found myself when i put on the skates - People....skating REALLY HURTS! Both physically as well as emotionally. I could not keep myself up straight on the rink while everyone else including little kids were gracefully moving around me. The other thing I learn't is that it is difficult to keep oneself up on the rink but it is even more difficult to get up once one has fallen. A skating rink is a good teacher, teaching an important lesson - when down be down!
Anyways, swallowing whatever little pride i had left I took help of a "skating assistant" - a wooden figurine of around 3 ft in height in the shape of a penguin with skates as webbed feet and started navigating gingerly the contours of the rink holding its ears :-O. The penguin didn't make me an expert but it helped me in not plonking myself on the ice or bumping into people. By the end of 2 hours I was in a position to slowly walk around without assistance and though I fell around atleast 10 times and had bruises in all sorts of mentionable and non mentionable places I do intend to go back again and make progress without depending on my friend the "penguin".
Saturday, February 7, 2009
St. Obama - yes we can! can we?
The only English language NEWS channel which comes on TV is CNN and over the past few months I have been a fed a daily diet of Obama to the extent that I have started calling him as St. Obama because he is supposed to set right all the ills of the world by twirling a magic wand. Nobody can blame our American friends of not going the whole hog about something but to expect a man and I emphasize again a man to fix the problems we face today is totally fantastical. Anyways, I dont want to write about Obama and what he means to me or to my friends and how I am tired of listening to him air some similar views as to Bush but being categorized as a "change agent" but what I admire is that he has been able to achieve what he has inspite of his humble beginnings. I also admire that he is so young and dynamic that he has ignited the imagination of people world wide.
What I want to write about is whether we could have a similar churn in our elections which are due for the summer months. I read somewhere that the main challengers for the PM post are Mayawati (:-O), Manmohan Singh and LK Advani. Mayawati is the youngest of the three and she does have humble beginnings but she as a PM would be a disaster because of the fact that the only ideology she believes in is "opportunism" while the other two are aged patriachs who have the experience to lead the nation but probably no energy to take the problems we face head on. The last few elections have shown some new, young and educated leaders breaking out but will the Indian polity allow one of them to come fore? I do believe that in the present times we need fresh, innovative ideas to recharge as Indians. I had really admired Rajiv Gandhi when he became PM as the young face of India but I have a feeling that unless it is Rahul or Priyanka nobody else of the young generation would be acceptable to their parties. Is this a reflection of our polity or our society where we don't seem to trust the younger generation to lead unless they have a Gandhi surname?
What I want to write about is whether we could have a similar churn in our elections which are due for the summer months. I read somewhere that the main challengers for the PM post are Mayawati (:-O), Manmohan Singh and LK Advani. Mayawati is the youngest of the three and she does have humble beginnings but she as a PM would be a disaster because of the fact that the only ideology she believes in is "opportunism" while the other two are aged patriachs who have the experience to lead the nation but probably no energy to take the problems we face head on. The last few elections have shown some new, young and educated leaders breaking out but will the Indian polity allow one of them to come fore? I do believe that in the present times we need fresh, innovative ideas to recharge as Indians. I had really admired Rajiv Gandhi when he became PM as the young face of India but I have a feeling that unless it is Rahul or Priyanka nobody else of the young generation would be acceptable to their parties. Is this a reflection of our polity or our society where we don't seem to trust the younger generation to lead unless they have a Gandhi surname?
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
One cant be serious about this!!
Technological wonders of streaming video enable me to follow the domestic news channels regularly. The morning newspaper on the pot routine has been replaced with the laptop on the pot routine but without getting more graphic I think you get the idea that I am well connected with what is happening back home as well as rest of the world -
So the rest of the world is grappling with the worst ever global depression or actually the first real global depression; with the ever worsening situation in the Gulf, Afghanistan and other hot spots; with a new American president ( topic of my other blog ) trying to put the pieces in place to recover from the mess we all find ourselves in; economic leaders getting together in Davos to take stock of where we stand; pilots landing on frozen rivers etc. what I see on domestic new channels is this nonsense of "moral policing" being played again and again.
Yes, lets accept the fact that our country is a country full of contrasts and contradictions like any other country. Yes we have these idiots who want to control where women should go and where women should not go. This is not just one bunch of idiots but we also have more people who want to control what should be portrayed in our cinemas and what not, people who want to control what should be available as content on our media and what not, people who want to control what should be sold in shops and what not and so on....there is no reasoning to this but if one really tries to analyze why we have so many of these lunatics floating around one could come to the conclusion that like any other society which underwent churn India is going through a "coming of age" syndrome. We as a country are progressing and progressing rapidly but chunks of Indians are being left behind or feel left behind in the change which is enveloping India as a whole. It is from these disgruntled and envious sections of the society the executors of this foolish disruptive and repressive agenda emerge.
Don't get me wrong I am in no way making the case of condoning these loonies by pointing out the social churning but I am questioning the wisdom of focusing on the actions of these few, 24/7 on different news channels. Absolutely ridiculous questions like "Who will protect the respect of our women" form the basis of talk shows and discussions where eminent personalities come and either support or disapprove these actions / questions. Does anyone have the time and the patience to listen to this nonsense? Don't by overplaying these aspects we provide with these people cheap publicity ( which was probably their intention in the 1st place )? Don't we run the risk of making these lunatics appear as heroes to some section of our society encouraging more people to resort to hooliganism?
I really would like to see one hour of positive news one day! Yes we are a nation which sends an exploration mission to moon but can't ensure safety of women who go to a pub. The solution doesn't lie in talking and having talk shows about this but by taking concrete actions in the short term by not giving these people publicity, upholding rule of law etc and in the long term trying to make our progress more pervasive.
So the rest of the world is grappling with the worst ever global depression or actually the first real global depression; with the ever worsening situation in the Gulf, Afghanistan and other hot spots; with a new American president ( topic of my other blog ) trying to put the pieces in place to recover from the mess we all find ourselves in; economic leaders getting together in Davos to take stock of where we stand; pilots landing on frozen rivers etc. what I see on domestic new channels is this nonsense of "moral policing" being played again and again.
Yes, lets accept the fact that our country is a country full of contrasts and contradictions like any other country. Yes we have these idiots who want to control where women should go and where women should not go. This is not just one bunch of idiots but we also have more people who want to control what should be portrayed in our cinemas and what not, people who want to control what should be available as content on our media and what not, people who want to control what should be sold in shops and what not and so on....there is no reasoning to this but if one really tries to analyze why we have so many of these lunatics floating around one could come to the conclusion that like any other society which underwent churn India is going through a "coming of age" syndrome. We as a country are progressing and progressing rapidly but chunks of Indians are being left behind or feel left behind in the change which is enveloping India as a whole. It is from these disgruntled and envious sections of the society the executors of this foolish disruptive and repressive agenda emerge.
Don't get me wrong I am in no way making the case of condoning these loonies by pointing out the social churning but I am questioning the wisdom of focusing on the actions of these few, 24/7 on different news channels. Absolutely ridiculous questions like "Who will protect the respect of our women" form the basis of talk shows and discussions where eminent personalities come and either support or disapprove these actions / questions. Does anyone have the time and the patience to listen to this nonsense? Don't by overplaying these aspects we provide with these people cheap publicity ( which was probably their intention in the 1st place )? Don't we run the risk of making these lunatics appear as heroes to some section of our society encouraging more people to resort to hooliganism?
I really would like to see one hour of positive news one day! Yes we are a nation which sends an exploration mission to moon but can't ensure safety of women who go to a pub. The solution doesn't lie in talking and having talk shows about this but by taking concrete actions in the short term by not giving these people publicity, upholding rule of law etc and in the long term trying to make our progress more pervasive.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
My Big Fat Indian Wedding
My Big Fat Indian Wedding - yes that is what I call this circus! Introducing the joker relegated to one corner - me!!!!!
In this chaos, confusion, raging arguments, need to conformance to stupid traditions, rituals, sacrificing of human emotions on the alter of the need to show off, emotions running way overboard, everybody trying to get their 5 seconds of fame and importance I am uselessly trying to search for happiness and togetherness.
I tie the knot the day after and I already dread my life as a sandwitch between all the different "stakeholders"in my life.
Listening to "The Persecuted Will not Forget" by Testament!!
In this chaos, confusion, raging arguments, need to conformance to stupid traditions, rituals, sacrificing of human emotions on the alter of the need to show off, emotions running way overboard, everybody trying to get their 5 seconds of fame and importance I am uselessly trying to search for happiness and togetherness.
I tie the knot the day after and I already dread my life as a sandwitch between all the different "stakeholders"in my life.
Listening to "The Persecuted Will not Forget" by Testament!!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Are we to be blamed?
Its been a week since the dance of death was played out in Mumbai. Everyday there are outpourings of grief, anger, frustration and concern directed against our neighbours, politicians and others. I share all these emotions as apart from feeling concerns for my relatives in Mumbai I also had to deal with a personal tragedy during the same time.
In addition I also have questions -
- why is it that we are facing these tragedies again and again?
- why is it that we are such a weak state?
- is it only the case that we have an inefficient home minister?
- why is it that if the home minister was inefficient he was asked to go after 4 years in office and numerous previous terrorist incidents?
- why is it that within the initial 5 minutes of the attack the 3 officers who were leading the investigations into the right wing terrorism were killed?
- why is it that out of the 10-11 incidents of terror that day the focus was only on Taj and Oberoi?
- was our media responsible in showing live the positions of our security forces? Did it result in the terrorists getting updated information about from where they were getting the threats?
- what purpose is served by politicians resigning / or being forced to quit now? is this accountability? shouldn't accountability be accompanied by punishment?
And many more such queries for which I know I will not get answers.
However, I do believe that somewhere deep down we as people are also responsible for the problems we are facing. We are perceived as a weak state because our disregard to Law. We take Law for granted. We are corrupt to the core. Yes our politicians, police, the machinery is corrupt but doesn't the politician or the police come from us? How many times have we paid bribes to get small favors or work done? How many times we break the Law in our every day lives? If we cant be Law abiding how do we expect that the people we elect are going to be any better? I have not voted for over 10 years and then I question the quality of governance I get. When I never was part of the exercise of choosing the government how can I question the governance I get. We as people have personified the "chalta hai" attitude. Everything is negotiable including our value systems. And we are weak because we are corrupt. We only have a sense of Indianess when we as a nation are attacked and two days later we forget everything.
For us to have a better situation we need to be make sacrifices - sacrifice the urge to get work done faster by paying bribes, sacrifice the urge to show the fellow Indian down, sacrifice our personal liberties so that the system can be made stronger, sacrifice the urge to find easy solutions e.g. blaming neighbors for our own ills and sacrifice the easy laid back attitude we have. "Chalta hai"has to be replaced with "Nahin chalta hai".
For the situation to become better we as people need to do our bit. We cant depend on others to do this for us. In addition I have a small request - Can we pass a law that anybody who even has a court case / chargesheet pending against him/her is not allowed to contest elections? Should we file a PIL for this because I cant expect the present politicians would pass any such legislation. I also don't think asking ministers to quit after an attack is a solution. They need to be given warnings and given one more chance to fix the problems. If they fail again they should be tried for "dereliction of duty" as any other normal person and punished.
In addition I also have questions -
- why is it that we are facing these tragedies again and again?
- why is it that we are such a weak state?
- is it only the case that we have an inefficient home minister?
- why is it that if the home minister was inefficient he was asked to go after 4 years in office and numerous previous terrorist incidents?
- why is it that within the initial 5 minutes of the attack the 3 officers who were leading the investigations into the right wing terrorism were killed?
- why is it that out of the 10-11 incidents of terror that day the focus was only on Taj and Oberoi?
- was our media responsible in showing live the positions of our security forces? Did it result in the terrorists getting updated information about from where they were getting the threats?
- what purpose is served by politicians resigning / or being forced to quit now? is this accountability? shouldn't accountability be accompanied by punishment?
And many more such queries for which I know I will not get answers.
However, I do believe that somewhere deep down we as people are also responsible for the problems we are facing. We are perceived as a weak state because our disregard to Law. We take Law for granted. We are corrupt to the core. Yes our politicians, police, the machinery is corrupt but doesn't the politician or the police come from us? How many times have we paid bribes to get small favors or work done? How many times we break the Law in our every day lives? If we cant be Law abiding how do we expect that the people we elect are going to be any better? I have not voted for over 10 years and then I question the quality of governance I get. When I never was part of the exercise of choosing the government how can I question the governance I get. We as people have personified the "chalta hai" attitude. Everything is negotiable including our value systems. And we are weak because we are corrupt. We only have a sense of Indianess when we as a nation are attacked and two days later we forget everything.
For us to have a better situation we need to be make sacrifices - sacrifice the urge to get work done faster by paying bribes, sacrifice the urge to show the fellow Indian down, sacrifice our personal liberties so that the system can be made stronger, sacrifice the urge to find easy solutions e.g. blaming neighbors for our own ills and sacrifice the easy laid back attitude we have. "Chalta hai"has to be replaced with "Nahin chalta hai".
For the situation to become better we as people need to do our bit. We cant depend on others to do this for us. In addition I have a small request - Can we pass a law that anybody who even has a court case / chargesheet pending against him/her is not allowed to contest elections? Should we file a PIL for this because I cant expect the present politicians would pass any such legislation. I also don't think asking ministers to quit after an attack is a solution. They need to be given warnings and given one more chance to fix the problems. If they fail again they should be tried for "dereliction of duty" as any other normal person and punished.
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