A letter from an Iranian friend ...

Hello all,

Something interesting (funny but alarming) happened to me today. I got back from my Nicaragua trip yesterday and had a FBI card waiting for me at the door with a message for me to call back! OK I have been "randomly" selected before at school for engineer/scientist screening they have and I had heard that they are doing it quite often these days so I thought this is one of them. So i wasn't terribly concerned.

I called the guy and left a message for him. Today he calls back and he apologizes for the inconvenience and says it is not a big deal and he just needs to ask few questions. I tell him that I am familiar with this "random" screening and it is OK. He says no this is another story. After asking what my status is and where i am from and what i do, he asks me if i travel a lot and I say yes and he asks me domestic or international and I say both. Work or Pleasure? Both...And here goes the story:

In one of my travels, I am writing some notes in a language that is not English. The person next to me is alarmed. I also have a Time magazine that I am reading. It has my name and address on it. She/He writes takes the info from there. Calls FBI and informs them. The FBI guy told me that the person told them that I had also written in English: " I am learning a lot from these flights" and this might be made up but he wants to know if it is true. I laugh hard. I usually write e-mail to friends that i haven't written for a while on trips and save them on my laptop and send it when i get Internet access. I vaguely remember writing something about reading and learning a lot during my long flights to somebody.

The FBI guys says that he knows this is ridiculous but wants to know if I have any bad intentions towards United states? I laugh again and say if me saying No will suffice. The guy says Yes and I say OK No; and he says I believe you!

He apologizes again and tells me if i ever needed any help to call him.

The whole story leaves me wondering . It is stupid to the point that makes you laugh but then you start wondering these type of stupidities can really cause serious problems.

Anyway, I just wanted to share it with you and to let you know to be aware when you are using your "non-English" language when writing or talking on your cell phones on the plane ...

Take care,

L*&^%

MMK - The dawn of a new era ...

Following up on the success that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had with free color TV's for the poor, I have decided to start a new party Moped-la Munneruna Kazhagam (MMK), with my single point election manifesto being "free mopeds to the poor" !

If a party can promise TV's, how can mopeds be far behind. And I am sure Mr. Vaiko who asked of the DMK "are you going to give a free cable connection as well", will ask us "will a free driving license be included" :-)

The election symbol will be a villager doing a "wheelie" on a moped. Our election rallies will have a dare-devil rider, riding what else, but a moped ! Mopeds will be given to the blind, the lame, the poor, the widowed. Who cares about roads, healthcare and housing - After all, everyone has mopeds ....

Anyone want to join my party ???

Kattabomman, Rani Mangammal,

Thiruvalluvar, Pallavan ... These were awesome names for transport corporations. I frequented the Pandyan buses myself. I wish we could go back to those names, instead of the dumb TSTC (Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation). Oh, the tragedy that is caste politics ...

I love my wife ...

... that's all.

France & India

France - Ooh la la ! What an amazing country ! The last few days have been filled with breath-takingly beautiful sights, great food and friendly people.

Although I lived in the US for more than three years, never did I have the same sort of yearning that I have now for India to resemble a foreign nation.

1. Food - Every restaurant seems to be good ! From the road side to the high street, each one of them offers great service, hygiene and a touch of uniqueness. This in contrast with India, where the only "safe" food available is in the ultra-sanitized star hotels.

2. Architecture - Agreed, India has some great monuments, but nowhere have I seen ancient architecture so well preserved and used in daily life. Every restaurant is in an ancient building, everyone lives in homes that seem to be 200 years old (Especially in Marseille/Nice)

Contrast that with India, where although we have 1000 year old temples, there is hardly anything ancient that we touch in the day to day. We live in 2 year old homes and work in one year old office buildings and eat in restaurants built last week.